The Hidden Serpent
by gethsemane342
Summary: Zac Carew is ruthless, cold, cunning and manipulative. The perfect candidate for Slytherin. The perfect leader. The only problem? He's a muggleborn and he needs to hide it. How? Read to find out. Complete!
1. The Qualities Needed

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form. Nor do i own the right to call school houses after Penfro, Conwy, Harlech and Raglan castles. That belongs to my primary school or the castles.

Geth342: I should be doing my J&H fic. but this got stuck in my head. Hopefully not very lame. I also hope my welsh is up to scratch but i could be wrong. For those who do not speak welsh or are too lazy to translate it, i have translations in brackets. Well, enjoy, please read and review!

The Hidden Serpent.

I know that I possess a lot of the qualities found in my house. I am a cold person. I like to manipulate people. I can think of no better thing than outsmarting an enemy. And I just don't see the point in heroics. Sure, you _might_ save the world from 'evil' but chances are that you will die in the attempt and really, you were better off not bothering. Besides, if evil is winning, you should side with it. Better things come your way.

In fact, the only thing that is wrong with me is that I am not a pureblood. Nor am I a half blood. I am muggle born, a 'mudblood' as my friends so nicely put it.

I am Zac Carew, only son of Thomas Carew, a baker, and Lisa Carew, a teacher. Until the age of eleven I attended a welsh primary school where all the lessons were taught in Welsh. At first I thought it was cool- I could speak in a language which no one else could understand. But eventually it was just annoying. I mean, why teach _every_ subject in Welsh? How on earth do you learn English in Welsh? Whenever I asked, my teacher would just say:

'Mae Gymraeg yn biwsig iawn. Dim siarad Zac." (_Welsh is very important. Don't talk Zac) _After a moment or two I would generally ask (in English) why it was so important. All I got in reply was:

'Dim siarad yn Saesneg. Siarad yn Gymraeg os gwelydd yn dda' (_Don't talk in English. Talk in Welsh please._) Go figure.

I was never bullied in school- people feared me. Not because I would bully them, although I was unafraid of fighting, but because they knew that I would seek revenge if they hurt me. It might be as simple as a thumbtack on their chair, or something as large as public humiliation. And no one could ever catch me at it, because weird things always happened to help me. When one boy threw my coat in a puddle, I fixed his chair so that it would fall the moment he sat on it. When he fell, he swore he had seen me do it, but a girl said she had seen me during the time it would have taken me to do it. I thought I had done the deed extraordinarily quickly, but I said nothing. It was just one more successful plot on my behalf.

I only had one proper friend in primary school.

When I got the letter, on the first day of the summer holidays, I was stunned. All the weird things I had done had been magic. And these people were willing to teach me more! All the people who had tried to bully me in school would regret it when they met me again.

I bought all my stuff with my parents and, on the 1st September I said goodbye to them. They were unable to get through the barrier, so we had to part by the ticket box. I did feel a bit teary as I hugged them, but I certainly wasn't sobbing as much as my mother, whose tears could probably have filled a small paddling pool.

As I wandered onto the train I couldn't stop smiling. I was actually going to a magic school. I would be performing magic. I just couldn't get over that idea. I put my luggage away and found an empty compartment. As soon as I had sat down, I picked up my basic spells book. I wanted to be one step ahead of everyone. If there's one thing I hate, it's being called an idiot.

About five minutes after the train had begun to move, two giggling girls poked their head through the doorway. One of them, a girl with blonde hair giggled and asked if they could sit in the compartment with me. I shrugged and nodded. I may be a cold person, but I'm not rude. There was no particular reason for them not to sit there.

The other girl, a red head, smiled gratefully at me.

"Thanks. It's impossible to find an empty compartment on this train." I nodded and went back to reading. I wasn't particularly interested in what they were saying, but as it turned out, they were determined to get to know me.

"So, you a first year too?" Blondie asked. I nodded and went back to reading. Blondie was not deterred. "What's your name then?" I sighed and put my book down. I know a lost cause when I see one.

"Zac Carew," I muttered, "And you?"

"I'm Shelly Grant, and this is Tammy Rowland." Blondie said, pointing to the red head. I smiled blandly at them.

"Nice to meet you," I murmured. Like I said, I am not a rude person, or at least, I like to think that I'm not. Shelly smiled and murmured something in reply. Tammy merely nodded, smiling shyly.

As the train journey wore on, the pair began talking about something called houses.

"Look, Ravenclaw is all well and good, but Gryffindor is better," Shelly was saying, "Bravery is better than just being smart." Tammy shook her head.

"You're missing the point Shel. If you're smart, you know when to be brave." She looked at me. I hurriedly wiped the look of confusion from my face. "What do you think Zac?" I thought quickly and replied,

"Oh…uh…Ravendor. Yeah, that one." I smirked, pleased with my bluff. The girls however were not impressed because Shelly sniggered and Tammy tentatively asked:

"Ravendor? Is that a cross between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?" She grinned. I blushed, ashamed of my ignorance.

"How the heck do I know? I've never heard of these things before." I snapped. The girls were taken aback.

"You mean you're a muggle born?" Shelly asked.

"What?"

"You're parents and family are muggles- non magical." Tammy explained.

"Yeah. So what?" At the time I didn't think that muggle parents were anything to be ashamed of. Fool.

"Nothing. We just thought…" The girls looked at each other. Shelly carried on speaking. "We just thought that you might be Edgar Howell's cousin. He's a first year as well, and you look a bit like Edgar…I mean you have the same nose and hair…" She trailed off weakly. I looked down at myself, puzzled. I was quite tall and skinny with coppery hair, a small nose and piercing blue eyes (or so I had been told). There plenty of people around who looked like that.

"Well, my cousins are called Jack and Sharon and I look like my dad. So sorry to disappoint." I sneered, then, giving them one last frosty glance, I picked my book up again. Shelly sniggered nastily.

"Well sooorrry Mr. Grumpy. Geez you're getting all offended for no reason." I shrugged and carried on reading. I didn't particularly want to listen to her babble any more. I hadn't even wanted to talk to her anyway. Tammy however took a different view.

"We didn't mean to offend you Zac." She said softly. "We were just surprised is all. We don't have anything against muggle-borns. That's the Slytherins job." I nodded, accepting her apology and then frowned.

"Slytherins?" I asked.

"One of the four Hogwarts' houses." Tammy replied. "You have Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw." I nodded to show I was keeping up. I couldn't believe that I was so ignorant. "Gryffindor is the house for brave and chivalrous people. Its colour is red and gold and its emblem is a lion. Ravenclaw is for people who are really into studying. Blue and bronze for them with an eagle. Hufflepuff is generally for loyal people, hard working. They have yellow and black, and a badger. Slytherins are nasty pieces of work. They're cunning but they only look out for themselves. They've got a snake as their emblem, and they're green and silver."

"So, they're like school groups? Like in my old school we had Penfro, Harlech, Conwy and Raglan. Kids got sorted randomly though." I thought I might be getting it. "They had colours and everything- green for Raglan, blue for Penfro, red for Harlech and yellow for Conwy. We weren't really enemies or anything though." Tammy nodded appreciatively.

"Yeah, that's almost right. But what house you're in determines a lot. And everyone has different ideas. I want to be in Ravenclaw, but Shelly wants to be in Gryffindor, probably because Harry Potter was in that house." I had no idea what she was on about but I didn't tell her that. I already looked like an idiot. "Hardly anyone wants to be in Hufflepuff, but they're way better than Slytherin. Most of the death eaters were in Slytherin. So was You-Know-Who."

"No, I don't know who. What are you on about?" I was finally losing patience. Shelly looked shocked and decided to quit her sudden vow of silence.

"You've never heard of You-Know-Who? You're joking right?"

"Yes, ha ha, I got you." I muttered bitterly. What kind of idiot was she? "No, I haven't. Are you gonna tell me who he or she is or not?" They exchanged glances. It seemed to be a habit of theirs.

"He was…he was this guy who tried to take over the Wizarding world twice. He died, I think thirty years ago."

"He doesn't sound that scary." I commented. "Does 'this guy' have a name?"

"You shouldn't sound so casual about it. If he'd won, you wouldn't be here. You'd be dead." Shelly sounded furious and I could not work out why. I'm not good at working out what _I've_ done wrong, which I suppose is quite bad.

"Why would I be dead?" I queried in a bored voice. If she was going to be rude to me, I wasn't going to show how curious I was.

"Because you're a muggle born." She spat out.

"Ah, but I thought that didn't make any difference to you," I said in my new infuriating voice. Her face turned a rather interesting shade of purple. Tammy intervened.

"It doesn't. Well, not to us, or most people. But when You-Know-Who was in power they really hated muggles and muggle borns. They just went around…well, killing them. The Slytherins were all for him." She smiled at me. "So you have absolutely no chance of being in Slytherin which is a good thing."

"Oh yeah," I murmured with fake enthusiasm. Even then I found the Slytherins somewhat interesting (apart from their death threat against me) and I was disappointed that I wouldn't be considered for that house. "So, what happened to Guy?"

"Guy?"

"My new nickname for You-Know-Who since you won't tell me his real name." I smirked.

"No one says his real name. Fine, it's Voldemort, but don't make me say it again. Anyway, about…forty seven years ago he tried to kill this boy called Harry Potter, but he failed and disappeared for about thirteen years. Then, he came back and about thirty years ago, he tried to take over again and succeeded, but Harry Potter fought him and killed him. My dad still remembers those times and he was only six. Says they were pretty horrible." She smiled at me, a contrast to her words.

"So, if he's dead, why don't you like saying his name? It _is _a pretty odd name, but I'm sure nothing too bad could happen." Shelly was being left out of the conversation, but I didn't notice.

"We just don't like it. Hey, you've never heard of Quidditch have you?" She said by way of changing the subject.

"No…Have you ever heard of football?"

"No, anyway, you need to know about Quidditch…" She then proceeded to spend two hours talking to me about it. And I listened very carefully, determined to learn all I could.

As the sun began to set, a boy, apparently a prefect, came in and told us to get changed into our uniforms. The girls looked pointedly at me so I grabbed my new school robes and shuffled out of the compartment. I couldn't help feeling that as I had gotten there first, they should have been the ones who left to get changed but it seemed too trivial to argue over, so I sloped off to a nearby toilet in which to get changed.

Having changed into robes, I hunted around for my wand, which I had dropped on the floor. Picking it up, I left the toilets and stood in the corridor inspecting the wand for the hundredth time since I had bought it. It was quite long (twelve inches according to Mr. Olliviander) and made of elm with a dragon heartstring core. I smiled briefly, then walked back to the compartment. To my surprise there were a group of boys in there. I stood outside the door and listened to the conversation.

"Look, could you leave us alone please? We need to change." That was Shelly's voice.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we boys?" A deep voice said.

"Nah. Two pretty girls, what could be better? Come on Jon, I've got this one." As far as I could see, a black haired boy had sat down next to Tammy and had his arm around her. She tried to move away, but he held her tight.

"Leave us alone. Please," She said desperately. The boy merely laughed at her and attempted to kiss her. I walked into the room.

"Hey, leave her alone you freak," I yelled without thinking. Which was odd, because I tend to think before I act. Less likely to end up dead that way. Kisser boy looked at me, and I was suddenly aware of how old he looked. At least thirteen and certainly better at magic than I was. I glared at him.

"Why do you want me to do that?" He said slowly. I glanced at his robes. There was a red trim around the collar.

"You're a Gryffindor aren't you? You're supposed to be chivalrous. So let her go." I sneered in reply. Not a particularly wise thing to do.

"Are you going to make me?" Kisser asked. His oafish friends all sniggered. I felt my temper rise and without thinking, I punched him on the nose. He stopped laughing.

"Leave." I ordered, not betraying how nervous I was. He merely smiled viciously at me.

"What if I don't want to?" He grabbed the collar of my robes. "Perhaps I want to do this!" He punched me in the nose as well. I snarled and kicked out at him, landing a kick in his stomach.

Then we were brawling. He could probably have stopped me with magic but he had forgotten that. All we cared about was causing each other pain, and he was winning- he was big and strong whereas I was scrawny. I shouldn't have gotten into that fight.

The next thing I knew, I couldn't move. The good news was, neither could Kisser boy. A youngish man was in the middle of the compartment.

"Mr. Trott," He said to Kisser boy, "You would do well to stop struggling or I will not lift the spell." He made a motion and suddenly my mouth could move again.

"Yes professor," Kisser muttered resentfully. The man turned to me.

"Now…I don't believe I know you. First year are you?"

"Yes sir."

"Not a good impression Mr…" He left the sentence hanging in the air.

"Carew. Zac Carew." I finished for him. My lip began to bleed but I couldn't move my arm to wipe the blood away.

"Well, Mr. Carew may I be the first to point out that the best way to arrive at Hogwarts is _not_ by fighting other students." He glanced at Kisser and then at me. "I suppose I should heal your wounds a bit." He waved his wand again and suddenly my mouth stopped bleeding, and I was in considerably less pain. Kisser boy also looked much better. I took advantage of my new found health to protest.

"I was only fighting because _he_ wouldn't leave my friends alone." I didn't really think the girls were my friends, especially not Shelly, but it was best to start on that note. Certainly better than trying to sound like a knight in shining armour by saying he wouldn't leave two random girls alone.

"Is that true Mr. Trott?" The man asked calmly.

"No professor. He just attacked me randomly." The other boy protested.

"Yeah, 'cause I really have nothing better to do with my life," I sneered. "I've never met you. Why on earth would I suddenly want to beat you up, especially if you're bigger than me and can perform magic?" Even I had to stop and think that one over. What _had_ possessed me to fight him? The man however seemed to agree with me.

"Well Mr. Trott, Mr. Carew here has an interesting point. I don't see any reason for him to randomly attack you." He turned to Shelly and Tammy. "Perhaps you girls can shed some light on the situation. What happened?" I couldn't help wondering why he didn't just use a spell to make us tell the truth.

"Well…" Tammy began hesitantly. "Well…me and Shelly were sitting in here with Zac for most of the train journey. A prefect came in and told us to get into our robes, so Zac left to get changed and give us some privacy to get changed. Just after he'd left, Darren Trott, Jon Stickler and the rest of these boys came into the compartment and started talking to us. We talked back, but then Jon grabbed Shelly and tried to kiss her. She pushed him away and told him to go away, but he just laughed. And then Darren grabbed me and tried to kiss me and I wasn't too happy. And then Zac ran into the room yelling at Darren to leave me alone. He started saying that he didn't want to so Zac told him to leave. When he didn't Zac…punched him in the nose." She blushed and looked at me, ashamed that I hadn't been put in a better light. I decided not to point out that I had hit him before ordering him to leave. "Then they were fighting until you came in sir." She stopped and decided to take a breath from her long monologue. The boys were glaring daggers at her (except for Darren…no, I couldn't call him that. It had to be Kisser. Anyway, he was still bound like me, so he couldn't glare much) and Shelly was nodding defiantly. The man hummed for a moment.

"As far as I can tell, Mr. Trott, you are in the wrong here. As it is not term, I cannot officially punish your house. However I expect a written note of apology to Mr. Carew and the two girls." He flicked his wand again and suddenly I could move. I used my new found ability to glare at Kisser, who was apologising to the man. He left with his head hung low. His friends followed. The man turned to me. "Mr. Carew, fighting is not an acceptable way to settle a dispute. I expect you to also write a letter of apology to Mr. Trott. Is that understood?" I was speechless. I had to write a letter to that jerk for trying to do the right thing for once.

"Yes." I muttered sullenly.

"When you address a teacher, Mr. Carew, you say Yes Professor or Yes Sir." He said dangerously. "So, I'll ask again. Do you understand?"

"Yes Professor," I murmured.

"Good. I'll leave you three then. And girls, you need to get changed." With that, he turned on his heel and left. Immediately Tammy ran up to me and hugged me.

"You were so brave Zac. Thank you so much," she gushed. I shook her off.

"It's okay. Gerroff Tammy." She stopped hugging me for which I was thankful. I walked to the door. "I'll let you two get changed." I offered then left. I only stood a meter away from the door. I wasn't going to let Kisser and his gang come back.

They didn't return. About ten minutes after the girls had gotten changed the train came to a halt. We left it rather nervously, although I tried not to make it show. I didn't want people thinking I was a wimp.

A giant started shouting for first years to use the boats. Everyone looked quite scared at this prospect, so I sauntered forward with Tammy and Shelly nervously following, and jumped into a boat. People followed my lead and I smirked. I knew I still had the ability to manipulate them. My good deeds hadn't taken it away from me.

The boats moved by themselves. I couldn't believe it. Shelly was looking a bit green in the lamplight and Tammy certainly wasn't as happy as she had been on dry land, but I was grinning. I was actually going to learn magic!

We got out of the boats and went into a giant castle. An old plump man was waiting to greet us.

"Hello new students and welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor Trent and I am the deputy head here. In just a few minutes you will be taken into the Great Hall to be sorted into one of the four houses. During your time here, your house will be like your family. You can gain points for good work but lose them for misbehaviour." He surveyed us carefully. "I hope I never see any of you in detention, but I know that you'll end up there anyway." He sighed. "I will return for you." As soon as he left I turned to Tammy and muttered:

"That was very foreboding. Is he Darth Vader or something?"

"What?" She said, bewildered. I blushed.

"N-nothing," I replied. Tammy shrugged and smiled. I kept my eyes down, calculating. I didn't want to make any blunders, not at the beginning. First impressions may be wrong but they usually stick. Next to me, a thin brown haired boy looked at me. I caught his eye and he winked. I smiled back uncertainly. Before he could say anything, Professor Trent came back.

"First years, this way please." We followed obediently into a huge room. Hundreds of people were sitting at tables, and a group of adults were sitting at a table near the door. In front of them was a stool with an old hat on. The teacher stood by it with a list. Suddenly the hat burst into song. I was pretty surprised but I wasn't the only one. A girl in front of me jumped. The song was quite dire, just about the qualities of each house. I found myself thinking wistfully of rock music. When it was done the old man took out a list and read:

"Abin, Colin" A scrawny blond kid walked to the stool, sat down and put the hat on. A few seconds after he put it on the hat declared him a Ravenclaw. The lining on his robes changed colour to blue and the people at the middle table cheered wildly.

A few more people were called and sorted into different houses, although none were in Slytherin I noticed. Then:

"Carew, Zac." I gave a little wave to Tammy, who smiled at me, and then I walked to the stool, sat down and put the hat on. Instantly a little voice spoke in my ear.

"Ah, what have we here? Hmm, there's lots of courage, and a healthy thirst for knowledge. Don't like ignorance do we?" I could sense it's smirk, even though it had no face. "Ability to work hard, always important but…ah. Here we go. Cunning, quick wits and ambition. But…vast ignorance of the magical world? A muggle-born! Interesting, interesting. Still, I can only see one house for you… It will certainly be different but I think you should be in…SLYTHERIN!"


	2. Blossoming Friendship

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form. (Or star wars)

Geth342: I was really surprised by the feedback i got. Thank you all very much, it made me really happy :) I hope you enjoy this chapter. Nothing else to say excpet please read and review (any advice given is gratefully accepted)

Chapter 2: Blossoming Friendship

The table on the far left of the room burst into wild cheering. I smiled shakily, took the hat off and walked over to them. I slid onto the end of a bench and a proud faced boy wearing a prefect's badge patted me on the back as a way of welcome. I was astonished (to say the least) that I had been put into Slytherin but I decided not to mention it. Looking up at the group of unsorted kids, I looked for Tammy. The expression on her face was almost comical. She clearly couldn't believe my good fortune and was staring at me. I caught her eye.

"Charles, Philip." Some brown haired kid with a lazy eye walked forward to the hat. Tammy mouthed something at me.

_What?_ I mouthed back. I never learnt how to read lips, so it was no wonder I didn't have a clue what she was saying. She tried again, exaggerating each word.

_I thought you were muggle born. Why are you in Slytherin?_

I pulled a face back. I wasn't going to mouth every reason the hat gave me to her. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the hat as Philip Charles was made a Gryffindor.

The sorting went on. Shelly was almost immediately put into Ravenclaw, which made me snigger. My three other year mates (two girls and a boy) looked at me strangely so I passed it off as a cough. I was pleased that pompous Shelly had not gotten her wish to go to Gryffindor. The next point of interest was when Professor Trent called:

"Langtree, Seifer" The boy who had winked at me wandered forward. The hat went on his head and a few seconds afterwards it declared him a Slytherin. I cheered along with the rest of my house. Seifer slid onto the end of the bench next to me, winked at me again and turned to watch the sorting. I had absolutely no idea why he kept winking at me.

A few more people were sorted into different houses. Whenever someone was sorted into Slytherin I cheered. As was expected of me, although one or two of my new year mates seemed a bit oafish. Like Kisser's friends.

"Rowland, Tamara" Tammy walked forward nervously. I crossed my fingers under the table. For all my misgivings and hatred of people, I liked Tammy and hoped she would be in Slytherin. Although given her loathing of my new house, I doubted she had the same feelings. The hat stayed on her head for a minute or two, quite long compared to most people. I wondered what it was saying to her. Then:

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the far right cheered as Tammy made her way towards them, smiling. I groaned.

"What's with the groaning?" Seifer turned around to ask me this.

"Huh?"

"Why're you groaning? She looks like she deserves Hufflepuff. Bunch of no-brainers, them." He was whispering now. I scrutinised him closely.

"How can you tell just by looking?" I asked carefully. I was on uneven ground here. To my surprise, Seifer looked apologetic.

"Oh, I forgot, she was the girl you were talking to in the line. Let me guess, you wanted her to be in Slytherin?" I nodded. "Too bad. Still, you'll make friends here…although how come you don't know anyone?" The thought seemed to come to him at the same time it had come to me. Of course, as a respectable Slytherin, I should have had connections. I thought quickly.

"My parents made me live in Wales in a small wizarding village. I was basically the only kid there, so I don't really know anyone." Seifer nodded understandingly.

"Well, that sucks. But stick with me and you'll be sorted in no time." I smiled gratefully and we turned back to watch the end of the sorting.

After 'Zinnias, May' was made a Gryffindor, an old lady made her way to the front. I pulled a face- was the whole castle filled with ancient people? It was much like my fictional village, so I supposed I should have felt right at home there.

"Now that the sorting has ended, I imagine you are all hungry. I shall not deter you from the feast- the speech will come after. Now, by all means, let the feast begin." She clapped her hands and suddenly food appeared on the plates. I stared in wide eyed amazement. Seifer laughed appreciatively.

"Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm starving." With that he grabbed a chicken leg and some potatoes and put them on his plate. Around me, other students were doing the same, so I quickly heaped some turkey and rice onto my plate and began to eat. I didn't want to look like an outsider so I kept astonishment to a minimum. Whilst eating, I turned to Seifer.

"What was the old lady's name anyway?" I asked. Seifer gulped a mouthful of potatoes down then replied:

"You serious? That's Professor McGonagall, the headmistress. She's _ancient._ She was teaching when Harry Potter was in school." My eyes widened. How old did witches and wizards live to? Seifer was still disbelieving so I quickly added:

"My parents told me nothing really. I swear they wanted me to be a muggle." I put as much contempt as I could into that word. Seifer looked understanding.

"Who would do that? Still, you're here now where you belong." I grinned. He was right. I had been in the school for roughly half an hour and I had already made one friend of sorts. I also had Tammy, even if she was in Hufflepuff. I had made more companions in a few hours than I had in six or seven years. I turned my attention back to eating.

After the main course had gone, desserts came up. A few of the other first years began talking to me and Seifer, about families.

"I'm a pure blood of course," A girl called Florrie Selwyn was remarking. I gulped. What if everyone was a 'pure blood'? Thankfully another girl, Jade Fornoy replied to the statement with:

"Ah, I'm a lousy half blood. My great great great granddad was a mudblood. We don't speak about him though." The others looked sympathetic and carried on talking.

"What about you Zac?" Adam Etasyl, a blocky dark skinned boy asked after a few minutes. I was the only one who hadn't commented on my heritage. I swallowed my last mouthful of ice-cream.

"Oh, I'm a half-blood like Jade. But my parents practically tried to raise me as muggle. I'm well out of _that_ though." I put a sorrowful look on my face and they murmured sympathies. Underneath the façade I smiled to myself. This was easier than I'd ever dreamed. Before anyone could comment further, McGonagall stood up and clapped her hands. The food disappeared and everyone turned to face her.

"I hope that you're all full up. You're classes will begin tomorrow. First years, follow your prefects to your common rooms after I finish talking." She surveyed us. "There are a few rules that need to be laid out now. Firstly, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to everyone."

"Well, duh!" Seifer whispered in my ear. I grinned.

"Secondly, our caretaker, Mr. Rewn has a list of items that are NOT to be used in the corridors, classrooms or common rooms. If we catch you using these items you will be put in detention. A copy of the list will be put on each of the notice boards in the common rooms. Make sure you check it." She paused to glare at a few people. I guessed they were the resident tricksters. "Finally, Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week of term and are open to all people from second year and above. If you wish to try out please pass your name to your head of house. Now, all of you, off to bed. Goodnight." She clapped her hands and a few of the older students stood up. A tall, good looking boy called for the first year Slytherins to follow him, so we got up and left the room after him. As we walked, he talked a bit.

"My name is Karl Gravel, and I am one of the prefects for Slytherin. Any questions, ask one of us, we're the ones with the nice shiny badges on." He sniggered. I growled under my breath. I don't like being mocked.

"Hey, chill Zac," Seifer murmured. "They're gonna treat us like idiots until one of us takes them out." He mimed throwing something at Karl. I smiled humourlessly and carried on listening.

"When we get to the common room, the other prefects will explain a few things and then you'll be sent off to sleep. Just one word of advice now though. If you see a poltergeist called Peeves- ignore him until you can actually perform magic. Got it?" He didn't wait for an answer. Instead he swiftly took us down a set of stairs which ended with a stone wall and stopped. "Listen carefully, first-years, I'm not repeating it again. This is the password to get into the common room, do not tell any non-slytherin about it." He paused and turned back to the wall. "Asp."

The wall slid back, much to my amazement. We walked in to a stone room with seats and tables. Green and Silver hangings hung off walls and an emerald fire crackled by one of the walls. Five of the six prefects were already there. Karl joined them. The proud faced boy motioned for us to sit down. We sat.

"Now, I know you're all tired, but a few rules have to be cleared first," he began. "You are all Slytherins now. As such, everyone else at Hogwarts will mistrust you. If anything goes wrong, the nearest Slytherin will be blamed. The only teacher you can trust is Professor Chappell, our head of house and the potions master. The only ghost is the Bloody Baron. You can't miss him; he's covered in silvery blood." We laughed. "In addition, rivalries within this house are unacceptable. If anyone argues with a fellow house member, you will come to us, the prefects, and we will sort it out. If you see a fellow Slytherin being attacked, you must come and help them- remember: if someone messes with one Slytherin, they mess with every Slytherin. Wear your colours with pride. Any questions, ask the prefects. My name is Willis Nome and I am senior prefect of Slytherin. Now, are there any questions?" We shook our heads. "Good. Now go to bed and make sure you're awake by seven so that we can show you where the showers and toilets are. Dismissed." I resisted the urge to give an army salute. Instead I followed the other boys up a set of stairs and into a room marked 'first year boys'.

To my surprise, our luggage was already in the room. My stuff was at the bottom of a gigantic four poster bed, which I assumed was mine. The other boys were looking around the room with as much astonishment as I was. Then, a small boy with spiky black hair called Jake Whitrow jumped onto his bed and said:

"Well, I don't know about you lot but I'm shattered. I think it's time to go sleep." The rest of us murmured agreement. I went to the bed next to Jake's and Seifer went to the bed next to mine. After pulling the curtain shut around my bed and getting changed into some old pyjamas, I lay on my new bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the day's events.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I didn't remember falling asleep, but I must have done because I got a shock when Adam poured water on my head, waking me up. I jumped up snarling.

"Hey, what are you doing you freak?" I yelled. The other boys fell about laughing. Adam attempted to explain, but couldn't speak for laughing. I readied myself to jump at him when Jake managed to get a few words of explanation out through his laughter.

"We're...meant to be up by seven but….you were snoring even when we….when we sang. So Adam got some water from his bottle and he…he…" Jake dissolved into more laughter. My face burned bright red. I had forgotten what a heavy sleeper I am. Seifer noticed the look on my face.

"Hey, it was only a joke. Don't get so worked up." I looked at him and pulled a comical face.

"Says the guy who woke up dry this morning." I replied and smiled at the others. They smiled back. I forgave, but I didn't forget. I never forget anything that's been done against me.

"We've gotta go and see those prefects, don't we?" Tahir Hovorak, another dark skinned boy with a sly pointed face remarked. I grabbed my watch from my trunk at the bottom of the bed. It said 6:52 AM. I nodded at Tahir. The others looked around wildly.

"So…what do we need?" Adam asked. I stared at him.

"How dumb are you Adam? We're going to shower…hmm; perhaps we need our potions book." I said sarcastically. "We need our clothes moron. And a towel unless you like walking around wet." Tahir sniggered.

"What, like you?" Adam retorted. I looked down at myself. He had a point. I smiled tightly at him.

"Yeah, but whose fault was that?" I asked, keeping my hot temper in control. Seifer stepped in between us.

"Guys, remember what Nome said yesterday? No arguing. People are gonna be against us enough- don't make it worse." We glanced at him, then at each other. Adam held out his hand.

"You are a worthy opponent Zac Carew." He looked me up and down. "Seifer's right- no fighting." I looked at his outstretched hand and then shook it. We smiled at each other again, but this time they were genuine smiles.

"So," I remarked as we gathered our clothes and headed for the door, "do you think that Nome was being serious about the whole 'everyone will hate us' thing?"

"Yeah. My older brother's a Slytherin." Jake replied. "He says that he got a detention once when someone got hit by a trip jinx and he happened to be nearby. It was ridiculous- no one had any proof that it was him." Adam whistled.

"Wow, sounds rough. But yeah, after You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters, no one really trusts Slytherins any more." We walked into the common room. The girls were already there, as were a few other early risers. "What houses were your parents in Zac?"

I thought quickly. They couldn't have been in Slytherin because I had said that they tried to raise me as a muggle.

"My dad was in Ravenclaw and my mum was in Gryffindor." I said quickly. "What's it to you?" Adam shrugged.

"Just wondering. If it makes you feel better, my parents were both Slytherins but my grand father was a Hufflepuff." There was no time for further conversation as the prefects came into the common room. A hulking girl with a permanent sneer on her face went over to the girls. Willis came over to us boys.

"Right, first years. Girls follow Karen, boys follow me." Willis didn't appear to be much of a morning person because he did not say another word to us. We left the common room then after heading down the corridor about two meters the girls stopped at a large painting of three children and a tree. Willis made us continue walking.

About two more meters after the girls had stopped there was another large painting, this time of two wizards having a duel. To my surprise, when we stopped in front of it, the wizards suddenly stood up straight and looked at us enquiringly. No one else seemed bothered by the moving picture so I said nothing. Either I was going mad or this was another normal magical thing.

"Shedding." Willis said in a clear voice. The portrait swung open and revealed a room inside. Seifer and Tahir looked mildly surprised but Adam and Jake acted as though they had often seen portraits open which they probably had. We walked into the room.

Inside there were some benches and doors. Willis pointed to the benches, ordering us to sit.

"Okay, quick briefing children," he said patronizingly. I bristled angrily. "Door on the left leads to the toilets, door on the right leads to sinks and mirrors, door straight ahead of you leads to the showers and baths. Don't tell the password to anyone and do not attempt to go into the girl's bathroom. Am I understood?" He recited in a bored voice.

"Yes…" None of us were sure how to address him.

"Willis." He finished for us. Then he stood up, informed us that breakfast would be at eight and left. We looked at each other for a moment and then I put my robes on a bench and went off to the showers. The others followed my lead.

Roughly half an hour later we were all washed, dressed and hungry. We left the bathrooms and Adam headed away from the common room. I pulled him back.

"Where are you going?" I hissed. Seifer moved to stop any argument we might have but I shook my head at him.

"To breakfast," Adam replied, bemused. I pointed at his pyjamas.

"What, with your pyjamas and toothbrush? That's a smart thing to do, isn't it?" Adam looked down in surprise and grinned.

"Good point Carew."

"Thanks Etasyl. Why are we using surnames?" I shot back. Tahir shook his head.

"I can see you two forming a blossoming friendship. Asp." The wall slid back. We went into our room, put our clothes away and headed to breakfast. This turned out to be a very interesting experience as none of us could remember the way to the Great Hall and so we argued. By the time we reached the Great Hall, Jake and Tahir weren't speaking, and it was only my resolve _not_ to lose every ally I could have in Hogwarts that had stopped me from hitting Adam. Seifer, as usual, was the cool head and had gotten us to breakfast relatively unscathed.

"Here we are," He said grandly, walking through the door, arms spread wide. Adam scoffed.

"You're so full of it Langtree." He stopped and smiled. "But, you're the one who got us here so my stomach thanks you." Seifer laughed.

"It was only because that ghost, the Bloody Baron, gave me directions. If you four hadn't been arguing so much, you'd have seen him too."

"Hey, look at the ceiling!" I exclaimed, interrupting their little happy time. Tahir stopped glaring at Jake and looked up.

"Yeah, what about it?" He asked after a moment, but I could tell he was as surprised as I was. He was still annoyed about the argument.

"It's like what's outside." I replied.

"Well done Mr. Obvious." Tahir murmured. I glared at him.

"And you see ceilings like this all around I suppose." I said sarcastically. Sarcasm is one of my greatest talents. Tahir shuffled.

"No…but this is written in Hogwarts: A history. Didn't you read it?" Seifer laughed again as we sat down on one of the benches.

"Tell me you didn't read it Tahir. No one reads that book."

"My brother never got past the first chapter." Jake added. I smiled gratefully. At least I wasn't the only idiot. And soon enough I would know enough magic to stop people thinking that of me.

"Jake, Tahir," Seifer began. We all looked at him. "Before I forget, you two have to stop arguing."

"Why should we?" Tahir said stubbornly.

"Because the Gryffindors are already giving us hostile looks. You want to have no friends?" Seifer replied reasonably. Jake and Tahir looked at each other uncertainly and then Jake held out his pale hand.

"Sorry Tahir. I shouldn't have sworn at you." Tahir clasped the hand.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for pushing you." I rolled my eyes when none of them were looking. Why on earth were they obsessed with hand shaking? Before I could say anything, more students sat down next to us and food appeared on the plates. I suddenly realised how hungry I was and spent the next ten minutes eating.

Whilst eating each of us got passed a timetable. I looked at mine.

_8:50 -9:50 – Herbology (R)_

"Hey, what do you think the R means?" One of the girls asked.

"Ravenclaw probably. A lot of the classes are shared." Her friend replied. I scanned down the timetable. Most of my classes were with Gryffindor but I had Charms with Hufflepuff and Defence Against the Dark Arts was just by ourselves. Seifer nudged me.

"Hey, Defence Against the Dark Arts is just us. No idiots to screw up. Great!"

"Yeah," I replied enthusiastically. "One lesson where we're not gonna have to duck random spells." I smiled at the thought. From what I had gathered, the other houses seemed to be idiots and a liability to the magical world. I might not be a true member of the magical world, but when I heard about the other houses I made a promise not to do anything to destroy it- I would treat magic with the reverence it deserved.

"And no one preaching how we're misusing magic." Seifer added, grinning.

"Or trying to correct the way we think." I laughed. Of course I didn't know then how the other houses would act, but Tammy had said that no Slytherins were worth anyone's time, and at home people were always telling me off for my ideas. Seifer nodded in agreement then got up and said that we should get our Herbology and Charms stuff. Also our Transfiguration books as that was after the break. We decided to follow his advice.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When we left the common room, Seifer came up with the very good idea of asking someone (a Slytherin obviously) for directions to Herbology, so we arrived outside the greenhouse with ten minutes to spare and no arguments (which seemed to be a record for us). The girls arrived and then the Ravenclaws. I groaned as I spotted one of the Ravenclaw girls- Shelly. Jake looked at me but before he could say anything, Shelly came over.

"Hello Zac," She said somewhat frostily.

"Hello Shelly," I murmured back. I didn't really want to speak to her but as always she was determined.

"So, you're in Slytherin now?" She asked even though it was obvious that I was. I was about to ask her whether she was blind or not when I realised what she was getting at. I sighed.

"Can I have a word with you Shelly? Like…over there." I gestured to a tree a few meters away. She nodded primly and walked over to the tree.

"What's going on?" Jake hissed as I began to walk.

"I need to talk to her about something and I don't want her little friends overhearing." I replied sneeringly. He shrugged and nodded. I walked over to the tree.

"How did _you_ get in Slytherin?" Was the first thing she said, as soon as I reached the tree. "Why _are_ you in Slytherin?" Was the second. I watched her patiently.

"Have you got anymore questions?" I asked quietly when she finally shut up. The blonde shook her head. "I'm in Slytherin because that's where the hat put me. And, incidentally…" I drew a breath. This wasn't going to be easy. "I would like it if you didn't mention my parents to anyone. I know I can't stop you if you want to tell anyone but…it's just possible that my house will kill me if they find out." I smiled weakly. "They're not exactly full of love for muggle borns." Shelly thought for a moment.

"Zac, you don't actually think I would do something like that?" She sounded offended. I said nothing. I had thought that actually. I know that if I had been in her situation I would have used the information. She carried on speaking. "I told you, I have nothing against muggle borns, which includes informing the Slytherins who they are. Besides, Tammy would kill me if I told them. She likes you for some reason." She tossed her hair back. "If that's all, I'm going to Herbology. They're going in now." I looked over towards our disappearing classmates. She was right. I set off after her.

"Shelly…" I called. She glanced back.

"Yes?" She had her frosty voice back.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." It hurt me a lot to say it, but I felt I had to. I know when thanks has to be given and that was one of those times.

Shelly didn't reply. Instead she went into the greenhouse. I rolled my eyes before following her. It seemed that it wasn't us Slytherins who were rude- it was just about everyone else.


	3. No one's Knight

Disclaimer: I do not own harry Potter in any shape or form.

Geth342: Well that was such a long update,_ I_ was beginning to wonder if the story was gonna continue so i don't know what you were all thinking. Sorry about that, but i've been really busy recently. I'm going to have a time elap of a few weeks in the enxt chapter ebcause the story's moving a bit slowly, then one or two chapter s after that there'll probably be a time leap iof a few years because i want the events to happen in one of Zac's later years. Well enjoy and please read and review.

Chapter 3: No one's Knight

Of course I was the last one into Herbology, but the teacher did not seem to mind. Instead he waved me in and watched me as I sat on the end of a bench next to Jake. Jake opened his mouth but before he had the chance to speak to me, the teacher spoke.

"Welcome first years. My name is Professor Longbottom and I am the Herbology teacher here at Hogwarts. This is your first lesson, am I correct?" We murmured assent. The round faced man continued talking. "I trust you have been told some of the rules. Here, in the greenhouses, the rules are particularly important. If you mess around you may touch a plant which can poison you, or worse- kill you. Do as I say and you'll be fine. These rules are for your safety. Am I understood?" We nodded again. Across the table from me two girls were whispering to each other and nodding in our direction. I sighed, irritated. This man was telling us not to mess around or we could kill ourselves, and the fools across the table weren't paying attention. If they were attacked, it would serve them right.

"What are you sighing about?" Jake whispered in my ear.

"Those fools who aren't listening." I replied, equally quiet.

"Yeah, well, when they get shrieked to death by a mandrake, they'll regret it." He paused and added, "and Professor Longbottom's speaking again, so we should really listen…sorry Sir." The teacher had caught Jake whispering to me and was looking at us sternly.

"Are you quite done Mr…"

"Whitrow." Jake supplied.

"Thank you. Is there something you wish to share with the class Mr. Whitrow?"

"No Professor."

"Then what should you do now?" He asked.

"Uh…apologise for disturbing your lesson and then shut up?" Longbottom nodded and Jake apologised. I said nothing but inside I was furious. The girls opposite me had talked all through his speech and nothing had happened to them. Jake and I had spoken for roughly twenty seconds and Jake was being humiliated in front of our class. It seemed Willis was right- the Slytherins were the ones who got into trouble. I listened to the rest of Professor Longbottom's speech with respect for what he said but disrespect for the man himself. I can never look at someone who has wronged me with anything but disrespect.

After his speech, we were told to work in pairs and repot a simple plant. I worked with Jake. Tahir and Seifer worked together, and Adam worked with Tanya DeKilwar, an arrogant red headed girl.

The work seemed easy enough. A pair of Ravenclaws got the task done first, then Seifer and Tahir managed. Jake and I struggled a bit because Jake insisted that the leaves on the stem had to be cut off whereas I said this was a waste of time. The end result was that the plant lost half its leaves, but not all of them. We also ended up covered in an extraordinary amount of dirt, due to a quick fight over the soil.

The problem, of course, was with Adam and Tanya. Adam seemed to me to be very hot headed and arrogant, and also a bit slow. From what I had gathered of Tanya at the feast, she was also arrogant, unwilling to believe there may be someone better than her. I detested this quality, but I didn't mention it. Tanya and Adam just could not work together. They argued over every single thing, they accidentally destroyed their first plant and Seifer had to stop Adam from hitting Tanya at one point. About five minutes after everyone else had managed to repot the plant, Tanya stalked off to get something. I'm not sure even Adam knew what she wanted to get and he didn't get time to find out because Tanya tripped over a pot on the floor. She tottered for a moment, and then fell sideways into a purple plant which immediately squirted some red substance over her. She screamed as boils erupted all over her skin. We jumped in shock. Suddenly the magical world seemed even more dangerous than I had ever thought.

Professor Longbottom told Florrie to take Tanya to the infirmary and then told us about the importance of repotting plants. Florrie returned five minutes before the end saying that Tanya had been told to stay in the infirmary. I tried to summon up some sympathy, but I had not particularly liked Tanya, although I assumed that due to the hostility from other houses, I would have to get along with her. Adam looked as sullen as always, although he did not say a word as we headed off to Charms.

The teacher was already in the room when we arrived, as were the Hufflepuffs. I looked them over briefly. They did seem a weedy lot, although perhaps it was just what I had heard. We promptly sat down. The teacher, a tall plump man with a tiny nose and grey eyes started by taking the register. Florrie explained Tanya's absence, but I paid little attention until the teacher called out for an Alan Hart. Another boy piped up.

"Alan's in the infirmary sir. Tammy managed to curse him and now he can only say everything backwards." He glared at Tammy, who blushed. "He should be let out this evening though." The teacher merely nodded and continued the register. I glanced at Tammy and noticed that the rest of her house weren't paying her much attention. I scowled. Adam and Tanya had fought, but we still stood by Adam. And when Tanya came out of the infirmary, we would help them discuss their differences and accept her back. Slytherin may have many faults but we look out for our members. Someone has to.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. If pairing worked out like last time, Adam would be paired with one of the Hufflepuffs, and considering that none of them seemed to be talking to Tammy it would probably be her.

I asked Jake to work with Adam for two reasons. One was to warn Tammy not to tell anyone about my family. I told myself that was the only reason, but deep down, I knew that she wouldn't tell anyone. At the very least it was repaying a favour- she had given me information about the magical world which had so far ensured my survival. The least I could do was repay her.

I knew that repaying the favour wasn't the reason either. Although I would not and still will not admit it to anyone, I knew that I was doing it so that Adam couldn't hurt her. For some inexplicable reason, I felt like her protector, a role I definitely did not want but still felt I had. For an unknown reason, she felt like a friend and I would not let anyone harm her.

Jake agreed but did not try to hide the look of confusion on his face. I didn't bother to explain it to him. He wouldn't have understood anyway. Meanwhile the teacher, Professor Quake explained to us how dangerous Charms was, and how the rules were for our safety. He then explained what we would be doing up until Christmas. Finally he told us a simple charm for making things levitate, saying that he didn't expect us to be able to do it by the end of the lesson. I rolled my eyes. What was the point of teaching us a spell we would not be able to do? For the amount of use it would be, I could give everyone in the room a welsh essay to translate. It would probably be more useful.

Still, I consoled myself with the thought that of course they would start us off small and then move on to bigger and better things. If I studied hard, and did extra tutoring, maybe I could learn more. Perhaps I could even get to a position of power.

Professor Quake told us to work in pairs and that he would let us pick today, but if it didn't work out then he would pick the pairs from now on. Adam looked around a bit wildly but Jake went over to him and said that if Adam had to work with a Hufflepuff, he would be so mad that he'd probably get a detention. Adam nodded, slightly confused but not about to curse his good fortune. Seifer worked with Tahir again, and the girls stayed in the same pairs. This, as I had planned, left me without a partner from the Slytherins. Looking over at the Hufflepuffs, the boys were paired together, and Tammy was the girl left without a partner. She looked dejected by this fact. Whilst my housemates were already attempting to use the charm, I lounged against a table calmly, perfecting the image of bored indifference in the class. I glanced over at Tammy and realised that Professor Quake was whispering something and pointing at me. Her face lit up for a brief moment and then she pushed her happiness down to a scowl. An act of course, just as my glare was.

"Carew, Rowland, you two are the only people without partners, so you're working together. I hope there are no objections?" He seemed to be directing this at me. I had absolutely no idea why- he knew as well as I did that whether I had any objections or not was irrelevant as he wouldn't care. Instead I grunted and walked to my a vacant desk without looking at Tammy. She followed me without a word. Quake handed us a feather and left us.

"Wingardium Leviosa" I stated grandly. Absolutely nothing happened. Tammy smiled and tried the spell. She got the same result and I felt slightly better.

"Zac," She whispered whilst pretending to practice the wand movement, "how did you get into Slytherin?"

"Uh…pure skill?" My heart sank. Of course, she probably wouldn't want to know me if I was a Slytherin. Although she had smiled when she'd seen me…

"No, seriously. It's only for," She glanced around and lowered her voice even more. "Purebloods and half bloods, which you aren't." I grimaced and decided to practice the charm in order to give me time to think.

"Windardium Leviofa!" I declared majestically, swishing and flicking my wand. "Blast! Why doesn't it work?"

"Because you made that spell up?" Tammy was trying very hard not to laugh. I glowered at her.

"Did not."

"Yes you did. The rest of us are using the spell _Wingardium Leviosa_. You just said Windardium Leviofa. You'll probably end up with a buffalo on your chest." She giggled helplessly. I attempted not to smile as we were attracting attention, but I don't think I was very successful, so to cover it up, I snarled some meaningless insult at her. My housemates gave me approving glances. The Hufflepuffs glared at me, which I couldn't quite understand. They had not been much friendlier to her five minutes before. Tammy looked at me, hurt.

"Sorry." I whispered to her quietly. She nodded curtly.

"Why did you say that?" She asked quietly.

"I need to act like a Slytherin, or they'll kill me, which I'm not looking forward to." I hoped she'd understand my unspoken plea. Her usually open face was unreadable for a moment. Then she gave me a quick nod. I smiled in pure relief.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Tammy tried. The feather still wouldn't move. Tammy glared at it then said hopefully, "I think it wriggled a bit."

"No, it didn't." I replied bluntly.

"Fine, ruin my dream." Tammy choked back a laugh.

"Your dream is to make a feather wriggle?"

"Shut up Zac." I smiled briefly and attempted the spell. Still nothing. I whacked my wand against the desk a few times- perhaps it was broken. To my amazement a few sparks jumped out and hit the feather which promptly burst into flames. The whole class stopped to stare at it. The boy who had informed Professor Quake about Alan Hart looked at us and then said accusingly to Tammy:

"See, you can't do anything right." Tammy blushed furiously but didn't say anything. I wondered why. Quake came over to us.

"Tammy, what did you do?" He asked quietly. The redhead looked like she was on the verge of tears. I was merely surprised that he hadn't assumed it was me, although it was probably because of the boy.

"N-nothing," She mumbled. Tears formed on her eyes and…I don't know why I decided to do the next thing. There was just something about Tammy that made me forget all my life rules.

"Uh...sir…it was…it was me" I put on a stuttering voice to get him on my side. The class directed their gaze at me, but unlike Tammy, I could cope. "I got annoyed and I…I kind of…bashed the wand against the desk." I looked ashamed, trying not to smile. I could see the Professor's anger melting away like I knew it would- I, the bad Slytherin kid owned up to something and I was scared. Or at least, he thought I was scared. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Seifer's puzzled but approving nod. I carried on my explanation. "Sparks came out of my wand and they um…set the…the feather…y'know, on fire. It was my fault." By this point the teacher was sorry for scaring us and apologised to Tammy. He went out to get a feather (which confused me because surely he had a supply of feathers in the room?) and then the boy who had accused Tammy walked over to us. He was actually startlingly tall for an eleven year old with long grey-brown hair.

"Hey Tammy." He halted for a moment. Tammy looked at him. "I'm…sorry for having a go at you. It's not a good way to act. I was just worried about Alan, he's a little bit fragile, so I took it out on you." He smiled nervously at Tammy, who seemed to be taking this seriously. I couldn't believe his cheek- she had probably apologised endlessly for the curse, put up with her house mates telling her off without complaint and now he wanted forgiveness. If it had been me, I would have told him where to get off but Tammy smiled and said:

"That's alright Travis." Travis smiled gratefully and nodded at me. I sneered in return. I didn't care what Tammy said, I wouldn't forgive him. Travis was slightly taken aback by my reaction but then pulled himself together and glared at me. Quake walked back into the room with a spare feather and told the class to settle down. He gave us the feather and said nothing more than 'don't set this one on fire please'. That annoyed me. I already knew not to set it on fire, why did he need to tell me again? What did he think I was- stupid? However I said nothing and acted like a model pupil. I didn't want to get thrown out of Hogwarts, not whilst there were things to learn. So instead of getting angry, I nodded politely and attempted the spell. My feather made a tiny wriggle. I smirked triumphantly but said nothing. I wouldn't tell anyone until I could do the spell. Tammy attempted the spell again and absolutely nothing happened. I smiled again. The 'mudblood' was beating all the wizard borns.

"So, how're you finding the Slytherins Zac?" A voice whispered. I looked at Tammy.

"Oh they're okay. Bit argumentative but otherwise nice guys." I looked at her disbelieving face. "What about you and the 'wonderful' Hufflepuffs?" I asked slyly. For one moment a pang of hurt showed on her face, but she quickly covered it up.

"They're very nice. I've already made friends with all the girls." She replied stiffly.

"Which is why they've been ignoring you?" I asked snidely. I didn't know why I was being so mean to her. Perhaps it was the way she was looking down on my house. I knew she didn't think much of Slytherin but I didn't think much of Hufflepuff and I wasn't putting it down.

"Well, Travis just apologised."

"And you believe him. He shouldn't have started on you to begin with. Your housemates should have sorted out the argument." I replied hotly. She shrugged, indicating that she wasn't going to get into an argument about it. I carried on anyway. "If any of us fight, the others sort it out. We don't hold any grudges." Tammy sighed.

"Zac, he said he was sorry. That's the end of it as far as I'm concerned." She said patiently.

"How d'you know he means it?" I asked. She put her trust in people far too easily. She knows that now.

"I don't," she replied simply, "but I'll soon find out. He probably does. Sometimes you just have to trust people." She stopped my angry reply by trying the spell again and, of course nothing happened. I tried the spell and my feather gave another wiggle which Tammy noticed. She gave me a small thumbs up. I took advantage of this.

"If you trust everyone then you're gonna regret it." I told her. She sighed patiently again.

"If you trust no one you'll regret it. That's a typical Slytherin reply." I ignored her attack on my house.

"Better to trust no one and not get hurt, than trust everyone and be betrayed." She shook her head but before she could reply Professor Quake halted the class to say that it was time for the end of the lesson and none of us were to feel disappointed that our charms had not worked. I kept my face impassive through all of this but I knew that later tonight I would keep practicing the charm until I had it perfectly. I didn't want to be left behind in my studies. Quake dismissed us and we packed our bags. Tammy went back to the Hufflepuffs and I sauntered over to Seifer and the other boys. We packed our bags and headed out of the classroom. I said nothing in all this time. Seifer lead us to a courtyard where we stood in a huddle. I wasn't sure if this meant we were friends or not, but it was nice to spend my break time with people rather than by myself or with Matt.

"Hey, Zac, what do you think?" Adam's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked at him. What had they been talking about? What did I think about what? Trees? Apples? World peace?

"Um…I agree." I replied carefully. Seifer looked at me.

"What, even with the part about the Kneazles and the Sprites?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Yeah, why?" I replied, trying to sound as obnoxious as possible. The other boys burst out laughing.

"You weren't paying any attention at all, were you?" Seifer laughed. I smiled thinly and shook my head. I don't like being caught unawares. "We were talking about the feather stunt. The question was do you think Quake is too dumb to keep a bunch of feathers in his room. I mean, why did he leave to get them?" I shrugged again.

"Fear of feathers?" I supplied.

"He went to face his fears then?" Jake asked, grinning. We all laughed and my lapse in concentration was forgotten. We moved onto talking about our expectations for Transfiguration when someone bumped into me. I told the person to watch where they were going. I heard a whimper and turned to inspect them.

It was one of the Hufflepuff boys, a particularly weedy pale boy with blond hair. I looked at him and he mumbled something.

"What was that?" I asked sneeringly.

"You walked into me," He half whispered. My eyes widened in mock shock.

"I walked into you did I? And just how did I do that standing still?" I smirked. The kid quailed. Tahir guffawed.

"I'm…I'm worth twelve of you," I had to strain to hear him.

"Then I'm pretty worthless aren't I? Or maybe you've got it wrong." I paused for effect. "I think you'll find that _I'm_ worth twelve of _you_." Seifer nudged me appreciatively. I waited for the kid's response. If he had only apologised to me to begin with, perhaps he would have been better off but, as it stood, I disapproved of rudeness. Besides, I wasn't feeling any love for the Hufflepuffs at that particular moment in time.

"You shouldn't have hurt Tammy," was the quiet response. "You're just a bully." This caused the boys to fall into hysterical laughter. I looked around, acting outraged. Which deep down, I was.

"Me? Hurt that girl?" I put my hand on my chest in mock horror. "What a horrible thought. And something only a little freak like you would think." I sneered again. "You don't believe me? Ask her yourself. I didn't harm a hair on her head." The kid glared at me.

"I'm not a freak." To my absolute amazement he charged at me. He must have been half a foot shorter than me but he still charged at me with some sort of wild courage. I stumbled backwards then, as he regained his balance I grabbed his collar and held him high. He kicked feebly, but couldn't do anything. I shot him a look of disgust and threw him to the floor, kicked him and told him to get out my sight and never bother me again. He ran away crying. Seifer clapped me on the back.

"Zac, how could you do that?" A voice sounded from behind. I turned around. Tammy was staring at me as though I were a complete stranger. My companions laughed again.

"Easily." I tried to sound sneering but my voice was hollow. "He bumped me and wouldn't apologise, then he charged at me. It's none of your business."

"Nat was half your height. You could have been kinder to him, he gets nervous easily."

"He could have been kinder to me Rowland."

"Well yes, but still, you shouldn't have hurt him."

"Why should I listen to a little Hufflepuff like you? Go join a worthless kid if you want." I was trying to put on an act, but my words still felt empty. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Adam making rude gestures at her. I didn't try to stop him. Tammy looked like I had slapped her.

"Carew," she said slowly, tears forming at the corners of her eyes, "I will never forgive you and I'm never going to speak to you again. You were right. Slytherin is where you belong. You're scum…just like the rest of them." She turned and walked away but before she turned I saw a tear slide down her cheek. I had done that, for quashing her dreams of being her friend and protector. I had made people cry before but this was the first time it had ever affected me.

"Hey, way to go Zac. That girl's been making trouble for you for ages. Her and Natty boy would make a good worthless pair." Adam clapped me on the back. The others cheered me, ignoring the looks of disgust from other students.

"Yeah…" I muttered, trying to smile. I looked at where Tammy had walked away, and I couldn't do it. "Why would I want to talk to her? She's a dumb blood traitor." I lied. The others laughed again and we headed to Transfiguration. As I walked, Tammy's words flashed through my mind.

_You're scum…_

_I will never forgive you_

I had never cared about what anyone thought of me before. So why did her words hurt so much now?


	4. High Flying Disregarded

Disclaimer: I do not own harry Potter in any shape or form. Nor do i own Evita which is kind of where i nicked the title from.

Geth342: Shorter chapter than usual. The next chapter will take place in Zac's 5th or 6th year, unless anyone objects strenuously. I would also like to add that there is a point in this story (end of Matt's letter) which may annoy several readers. If you do know what i am talking about and you wish to send me a hate filled review because of it, go ahead- i will laugh evilly. Nothing else to say except enjoy and please read and review (and for people who can't guess or are really interested, Ysgol means school)

Chapter 4: High flying disregarded.

I had been in Hogwarts for three weeks when I finally decided to write some letters. In private of course, as I did not want any of my room mates to notice my heritage. Of the four boys, I felt I was closest to Seifer. He had, in many ways become my best friend. He cheered me up when I was annoyed and was full of clever ideas. Jake and Tahir were nice enough, but Adam and I were constantly arguing. We couldn't agree on anything and we were almost complete opposites. I liked him as well. We had a healthy disrespect for each other.

We also got on with the girls, although we did not speak to them much. When we saw some Gryffindors yelling at Florrie, Seifer and I pushed two of them and I used the levitation charm on the third. I had perfected it in the second lesson much to Professor Quake's pleasure and the Hufflepuffs annoyance. Professor Trent gave me my first detention. Apparently, I am not supposed to levitate people in school no matter what the circumstances. I knew I was in a lot of trouble so I bit back my remark and merely murmured polite apologies. I spent my first Saturday cleaning bedpans in the Hospital Wing. When I returned, the other boys would not stop teasing me about it, saying I was some sort of hero and that it must be because my parents 'tried' to raise me as a muggle. I think that's where the nickname 'Muggle boy' or 'Muggle Snake' came from.

I had not spoken to Tammy since she yelled at me. I did feel a bit guilty but I decided I was better off without her. After all, she was a blood traitor (so was I, but at least _I_ was sorry about this) and not worthy of my attention. Besides, for the first time in my life I had more than one friend, and what's more they thought in the same way I did. Back in Wales, Matt had been my only friend but sometimes he got scared by my plots. It often caused arguments between us- he called me an evil berk and I called him a wuss. When Kisser boy tripped me up in the corridor once, I told Seifer some elaborate schemes for revenge and all he said was that I would have tone it down a bit or be expelled. Then he handed me some pouches and told me to throw one at Kisser and that it should be a suitable revenge. He was right. The pouch was some sort of itching powder which had the added effect of making him burst out in boils. I laughed from behind my corner as he ran around shouting. I even managed to escape any passing teachers. It was just like my primary school plots- a complete success. I was pleased that I hadn't lost my touch.

On my third Saturday evening, when the other boys were in the common room playing a game of Wizard Chess (I had had a go at this and discovered that the pieces liked to argue. As I would argue back, Tahir, my opponent often started to read whilst I screamed profanities at them much to everyone else's amusement) I stayed in our dorm to write some letters. I decided to write the first one to my parents.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I've been at Hogwarts for 3 weeks. It's quite cool. We've been learning 'the basics of magic', which is a little bit boring but better than speaking welsh all the time. I'm in Slytherin house and I have friends- Seifer, Tahir, Jake and Adam. Well, me and Adam argue all the time but I think we're friends. They're downstairs playing Wizard Chess._

I tried to think of what else I could write. I couldn't mention detention, or that everyone hated my house. I racked my brains for a moment then continued.

_The teachers here are strict- almost as strict as the ones at Ysgol Llanderim, but I haven't really gotten into trouble with them. They all call me 'Mr Carew' for some reason, and everyone refers to everyone else by their surnames. Didn't you say that was an upper class thing to do Dad? I decided not to tell the others._

_Could you send the other letter to Matt- I don't think he wants an owl giving him post. Isn't it cool, owl post? The others all own owls but I'm going to use one of the school ones. The senior prefect told us about it on our third day here._

_Your son,_

_Zac_

_P.S. We've only gotten lost a few times and I think I might know my way around now._

_P.P.S The headmistress is ancient! I wonder how old witches and wizards live to._

_P.P.P.S We write with quills and parchment here. How old fashioned can you get?_

I put my quill down (I still could not believe that we used equipment that was around with the Victorians) and picked up another piece of parchment. When I had told Matt I was going to boarding school, he made me promise to stay in touch. I didn't know why but at the time I hadn't had the energy to argue. Besides he made me promise with the ancient school oath 'I swear to…and if I fail may all the demons haunt me forever more' This was said once in English, once in Welsh and followed with a complicated handshake. The rumours were that the first kid to break the oath had been killed a few months later, the second kid had been in an accident and the third had been plagued with bad luck for ten years. There had never been a fourth.

Most people did not use the oath on me thinking that with my luck, I could find a way to avoid the danger. In addition the few people who forced me to say it always paid for it later. Revenge is not always an immediate thing. Only Matt had permission to use it as he pleased but he knew not to anger me by using it too much. In reality I was the only person in the school who was exempt from the oath. But, I had recited the oath with Matt and so I was writing a letter to him (although he was under the impression that I had gone to some posh boarding school in England) and I supposed it was nice to tell him what I had been up to (without mentioning magic of course).

_Hey Matt,_

_How are you? How's Glanhwylio? Anyone missing me? This school's quite cool. Well, as cool as a school can be anyway._

_They have houses here, like ours. I'm in Slytherin house, which is green like Raglan but quite a bit different. Oh, and I have friends- the other boys in my dorm._

_You'll be pleased to know I'm still the same as I was in Ysgol Llanderim- I was the first first year(yeah, first year, not year seven. Weird I know.) to get a detention just for tripping some kid up who was beating up one of the girls in my house. Not that I'm planning to tell my parents._

_Talking about old fashioned, we use quills and ink here, and our teachers are 'Professor'. Still no lessons are taught in welsh. In fact, hardly any welsh kids go here and my ability to speak welsh impresses no one. I think Mr. Jones should realise this. _

_There's not much else to say really. You better reply soon though. Send the letter to my parents- the school doesn't accept letters from people who aren't my family. God knows why._

_Zac Carew_

Seifer came into the room, chucking something up and down. He placed it on his bed and then addressed me.

"Hey Zac, are you done yet. They're playing exploding snap down there and there's no way you can scream at the cards in this game." He laughed.

"I lost the game," I replied automatically. Seifer stared at me.

"Pardon?" I pulled a face. Apparently he did not know about the game.

"Never mind Seif. I'll come in ten minutes. I'm just gonna post two letters." I considered for a moment then added onto my letter:

_P.S. Just to annoy you Matt (and because Seifer has just reminded me) I lost the game. Try not to hate me too much._

I rolled the parchments up and sealed them, smiling at the annoyance that would appear on Matt's face when he read the last part. I got up and headed to the door. Seifer called after me.

"Hey, Zac, hang on. I need more pranks; I've got my owl order here. I'm coming with you." I shrugged and waited for him to catch up with me. As we walked through the common room Adam slapped a card down and something exploded, making the second year Slytherin boys who often joined us when we played games, snigger. Seifer waved at them jauntily. I smirked at the mess on the table.

As we walked up to the tower where the school kept the owls, we discussed classes, magic, muggleborns, the other houses and teachers. Every time we saw a fellow Slytherin we nodded at them and they nodded back. Any other houses were ignored- they weren't worth the time it would take to acknowledge them.

Once in the owlry, Seifer looked around for his black owl as I coaxed a plain brown school owl onto my hands. As I attached my letters to the owl's foot Seifer asked me who I was sending my letters to.

"One's to a friend back in Wales and the other is for my parents."

"Your parents? Why write to them?" Seifer said, sounding somewhat unbelieving. I pulled a face.

"You know what parents are like. Blast this owl. Will you stay still?"

"Yeah, I guess…"Seifer's voice was oddly hollow, but I didn't have time to question because the door opened and the world's most arrogant Hufflepuff walked in- Travis. Seifer glanced at him and then turned to me and said:

"You better send that owl off. We've got little boy lost here, taking up our air." I sniggered appreciatively, not because it was funny but because it annoyed Travis. The day after my argument with Tammy, Travis tried to curse me, which was unsuccessful as he didn't know any magic. Seifer spotted him and asked him what he thought he was doing and he lamely replied that he was lost then said he wasn't explaining himself to a group of no good squibs which didn't impress Seifer (nor me when I looked the term up later) and after a swift locking in a broom cupboard, we had taken to calling him little boy lost. Not very imaginative but enough to remind him who were the bosses in the year.

"Shut up!" He shouted, blushing furiously. I looked at him with disgust.

"Any reason why? In case you haven't noticed, we're in a tower and you," I pointed at him, "can't fly. Not even after being surrounded by brooms. Besides little boy lost, it's a free country, we can say whatever we want." I turned my back on him, finished attaching my letters and sent the owl off. Seifer did the same. As we left I heard him muttering about us under his breath. None of it would be found in the bible, I'll just put it like that. I do not like to swear too much- it's vulgar and a sign of a lesser person.

When we returned to the common room, the other first years were huddled around the notice board. We wandered over to see what the commotion was about. On the board there was a poster telling us that on Monday afternoon we would be having a flying lesson with the Gryffindors. I grinned. Flying seemed like on of the cooler aspects of magic. I had never even been in a plane before, so going on a broom would be amazing. Looking at Seifer, I could tell that he was as excited as I was, although we were both trying to hide it.

"Well," he said loftily, "it's about time. Although of course I am a natural and so I think I'll see if they can bend that first year rule on Quidditch."

"Yeah, but you need a small head to fly Seif. Yours is too big," Adam muttered. Seifer laughed and pretended to hit him. Meanwhile, Jake started spinning tales about all his exploits on a broomstick, which sounded like bad action films to me but of course I did not mention this. Tahir merely said that he hoped the brooms were in good condition. I said nothing until Adam asked me what I thought. My mind raced.

"Me? I'm not that great on a broom, but you watch, just give me one or two lessons and I'll be zooming all over you suckers." The others made comments illustrating the unlikelihood of this. I smirked arrogantly and told them that considering I was the strongest spell caster I wouldn't need to fly. After all, the 'dark lord' had been able to fly (I had researched him a bit in the library and thought this was a cool power) and so I would just learn to do that instead. Tahir scoffed and Tanya laughed at me but I knew that I would learn to do it. Voldemort (I still couldn't see what was so bad about saying the name) had been one of the strongest wizards of all time, and I wanted strength and power. If he could use that magic then I would learn it. We joked around a bit more, testing each other to see how annoyed we would get before we yelled and then played a few more games of Wizard chess. Finally we went to bed. I dreamt about falling off a broom whilst everyone else laughed at me.

Sunday was spent doing extra homework and worrying about flying whilst acting like it was no big deal. I certainly couldn't tell my friends that I had never ridden on a broom before. In my opinion, Monday came around far too quickly, but at least I could console myself with the fact that Defence Against the Dark Arts was first. This had swiftly become my favourite subject. The teacher was Professor Neclor, the man who had stopped the fight between me and Kisser boy on the Hogwart's Express. The only reference he made to the fight was to say 'Hello again Mr. Carew. I hope you've written that letter to Mr. Trott, and that you now know better." The others were very confused so I quickly told them that I had gotten into a fight with Kisser on the train because he tripped me up. None of them doubted me.

Professor Neclor was a good teacher. If he had any prejudice for the Slytherins (and he must have done because he was head of Ravenclaw) he did not show it. He was patient and knew exactly how to handle us. He even knew how much homework to give us (some teachers were under the impression that we only studied their subjects) and I felt that I had learnt a lot even in the few weeks I had been there.

But on that particular morning, not even Defence Against the Dark Arts was enough to cheer me up. I couldn't concentrate at all and accidentally threw my wand at Seifer instead of casting Lumos, which didn't amuse anyone very much. No one asked me why I felt so off and if they had I would not have told them. Telling someone my problems would give them an advantage over me, and that was something I would never allow anyone to have.

The rest of the morning proceeded in much the same fashion. In Potions my potion exploded, causing myself and the Gryffindor boy Phillip Charles, who was my assigned potions partner, to erupt in painful boils. We were sent to the Hospital Wing to be treated. Charles said nothing on the whole trip, only looking at me contemptuously. I did not say anything either, but I noted his contempt. I would not forget. After potions we had Charms where I accidentally answered a question in Welsh, causing the Hufflepuffs to laugh and my fellow Slytherins to smirk. No one laughed more than Travis and Nat. I said nothing. I didn't think it would have done me any good to lose my temper. Yet.

Finally, after lunch we trooped out onto the fields by the Greenhouses where the Gryffindors were already waiting as was a lady with black hair who introduced herself to us as Professor Bell. Seifer whispered that she had been in school with Harry Potter and would probably favour the Gryffindors. I grimaced- I hate favouritism, especially when I'm at the wrong end of it. I may be a liar and sly but I like to think I'm a little bit fair.

First of all we had to call our brooms by shouting 'Up'. This seemed somewhat ridiculous to me but I still did it. My beaten up broom gave a little twitch and then carried on lying there as though it had considered flying up to me and then changed its mind. Adam's rolled over. Jake and Tahir's hopped a little bit. Seifer's jumped into his hand after a few seconds, much to his surprise as he had evidently decided the broom wasn't going to move. A few other brooms moved but Seifer was the only one whose broom had responded completely. The teacher was not at all surprised and merely told us to try again whilst she looked at Seifer's grip. I kept my face blank but inside I was annoyed. I don't like to fail. I tried again and commanded the broom with such forced and venom that it immediately jumped into my hand. The other boys copied my approach and soon most of the class had their brooms in their hand.

After our grips had all been corrected our next command was to push off from the ground, hover for a few feet and then descend again. The moment I tried this, I immediately kicked too hard and flew high into the air, about thirty feet. This was not something I had planned and it was something I would never forget. I looked down, trying to battle my sudden vertigo as people ran around below. I vaguely wondered how they were planning on getting me down but all the teacher did was yell at me to fly down. If I had had a clear head I would have realised that as a Slytherin I should have been on a broom a few times and that Bell thought I was fooling around, but considering it was my first time in the air and I was sitting thirty feet up with no impending help coming, I was understandably annoyed (and scared). Seifer was yelling something but the blood was rushing in my ears and I could not hear a thing. Why wasn't anyone coming to help me? Eventually I thought about it slightly logically. If no one was coming up to help me, I had to try and come down. The ideal way would be to jump down on the broom since I had kicked off to get up, but this, I reasoned to myself, would probably result in me falling and dying. There had to be another way.

I tried a different approach- a muggle approach. When a plane descended, it went nose first. So, if I was going to fly down I would have to try and go the same way. Tentatively I leaned forward, angling the tip of the broom downwards. The broom moved forward slightly. I angled it a bit more and soon the broom descended. A good way to finish off my little 'stunt' would have been to do it very quickly but that did not seem like a very good idea. My plans certainly did not end in the Hospital wing. Eventually I touched down lightly, adding my trademark smirk as though I had planned the whole thing.

Professor Bell shouted at me for ten minutes straight about how I could have gotten my fool neck killed playing a stunt like that. I informed her that having not ridden a broom for several years, I was just that little bit rusty on technique and surely she should have come and rescued me. She just glowered at me. Jade came over and made a loud fuss, checking me for injuries and so on, saying how clever I was to get down by myself. I watched the chaos of the class with a smile which quickly disappeared when May Zinnias repeated my stunt by accident and was immediately rescued by Bell. Why was she treated normally whereas I was guilty without trial? When we were finally allowed to leave the lesson I was fuming. We were treated as the scum of the school and I made my feelings known to the others. Adam shrugged.

"That's how we're always treated Zac. What did you expect after You-Know-Who?"

"I dunno. But I was up there for ages and she didn't even think to help me, and then she yelled at me. What makes Zinnias better than me?"

"She's a Gryffindor. I told you, Bell was a Gryffindor, she'll favour them." Seifer replied. I snarled.

"So what?"

"Hey, calm down man," Jake said. "What can you do anyway? It's not like we can change their minds. Besides would you want to?" That made me think. Slowly, a plan formed in my mind.

"You know what Jake?" I said. "You're right. I don't want to change their minds. I think we should show this school who the bosses really are."


	5. Leader of the Damned

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form.

Geth342: Well, that was a fairly quick update so i hope you're all happy. Every five chapters or so, i'm going to dedicate the chapter to someone. So this one is being dedicated to HiddenDepths-x who has reviewed every chapter and made me feel happy about this stroy :). So thanks. Also, thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, you're awesome. Nothing else left to say except enjoy and please read and review.

Chapter 5: Leader of the damned

"Hey Zac, over here." I smiled at the tall thin boy waving at me. Seifer had grown to about six foot one, and still had the same haircut as the day I had met him. I wandered over to him and we clasped hands.

"Hey Seif. You seen the others?" I asked. He shook his head but before he could speak we heard a voice from behind us.

"Zac, Seifer, wait for us." Jake yelled with Tahir following, a smile on his sly face. Jake had remained somewhat short although his hair had changed colour to blond. He had decided in his third year that he was sick of black hair, especially as the rest of us had brown or black hair and had used some sort of magical dye to change it to blond, claiming he was adding colour to our group. Jake had always been the mad one.

Tahir, however had grown stronger, his black hair was now long and tied back in a pony tail, and the beginnings of a beard had formed on his pointed face. He and Jake were best friends.

We waited for them and wandered onto the train. As we walked down the corridors, people got out of our way. I smirked- I liked the effect we had. Even the 6th and 7th years avoided us. We found an empty compartment and sat down; talking about the end of our summers (we had spent two weeks of it together at Jake's house). Tahir and Jake had been on holiday, Seifer had hung around his town, hexing different parts of the square every day to see how much chaos he could cause, without being noticed. His parents always covered up for him when he performed magic. Even at the age of fifteen he loved to play pranks on people. I sometimes wondered whether he would ever grow up. I kept them entertained with tales of how I had managed to stop my parents from raising me as a muggle that summer. Of course none of it was true- I had no other option except to act as a muggle because my parents knew no more about wizarding than my fellow Slytherins knew about Muggle kindness. But they didn't need to know that.

Just as I finished a story about staying up a tree for a few days whilst my parents tried to convince me to meet our 'Muggle Neighbours', Adam sauntered in. He was as tall and blocky as ever, black hair in a quiff and a brutish look on his face. I think the look was permanent. However a lot of the puppy fat from his face had disappeared.

"Heya Zac, good to see you mate." Adam greeted me first, then the others, even though I was further away from the door than Jake. No one commented- we were used to it. I greeted him back.

"Hey Ad. Good summer after the whole forest thing?" I asked. Adam laughed.

"Yeah, not bad. My parents gave me some more spell books to look at. I've got them with me, in case you wanted to read them. Oh yeah, and my little brother is gonna stop by later. It's his first year so…" He looked at me hopefully. I pretended to consider his question then nodded curtly. He grinned. Jake stood up.

"Hey, if there's no one else coming then I'll close the door." I was about to remind him who else was coming when she did it herself.

Jade walked into the room, proclaiming that she hoped we weren't going to shut her out. Seifer obediently moved one seat over to make room for her. I stood up, gave her a kiss and then sat back down. She slid onto Seifer's abandoned seat and I put my arm around her absent mindedly. The other guys wolf whistled a bit, but then backed down when I glared at them. Jade, despite being a Slytherin and completely comfortable with her friends was actually very shy and I knew that attitude bothered her. We talked for a few minutes when something occurred to me.

"Hey, where's Zoë anyway?" I asked. Zoë Maxley and Jade always went around together and for her not to be on the train was quite worrying. Jade smiled playfully and I knew Zoë was alright.

"Here, I thought you were dating me," she protested cheerfully. I chuckled.

"I am, don't worry about that." I kissed her again. She smiled, reassured and told me that Zoë was doing prefect duty. Tahir suddenly jumped up, yelped and ran out of the door. Apparently he had forgotten that he was a prefect too. We laughed after him and settled back to talk about meaningless things.

A few hours later, just after the Lunch lady with the trolley had left, Tahir and a small first year walked in. Tahir scowled at the boy.

"Hey guys, this kid's been spying into the compartment. What do you want to do with him?" He held the boy by his collar. Although the statement appeared to be for all of us, the question was aimed at me. I looked thoughtfully at them.

"Aren't you meant to be doing prefect duties Tahir?" I questioned. The tall boy knew better than to remind me to go back to the subject at hand. This was a trick I often used.

"Yes, and so I am. I've stopped a fight or two, told some second years to shut up and I'm trying to get this no good kid to go back to his compartment, but he says he knows us." He replied calmly. The boy scowled. I glanced at him. His collar trim was white.

"So, first year are you?" I asked lazily. The boy nodded. "What's your name then?"

"Nick." He whispered. I inspected my nails.

"Don't you have a surname Nick, or are you doomed to be known as Nick forever?"

"I'm Nicholas Geoffrey Etasyl if you must know," He drew himself up proudly. Tahir put him back onto the ground but still held him. Seifer grinned.

"So you're Adam's brother. Well he should be back from the toilet soon. You going to sit down?" Again, the question was directed at me. I smiled politely.

"Yes, sit down and tell us a bit about yourself whilst we wait for Adam." I looked at him closely as he sat down on Adam's abandoned seat. Now that I thought about it, he did look a bit like Adam- dark skinned, arched nose, quite blocky. Nick smiled, pleased that he wasn't going to be hurt. He seemed a little but too trusting, just like Tammy.

"Well, Adam told me how things work in the school and I think I want to help you." He said quietly. I gave him a stern look.

"You want to help us? You'd be prepared to upset other students, work hard and so on?" He gulped but nodded. "So," I continued, "you wouldn't even mind doing something like this and would keep utterly composed." I pointed my wand at the door. Jake opened it a crack so that I could see the people outside. I thought for a moment. Browsing through Adam's books during the summer I had glimpsed a spell for making people rise up. It was non-verbal and I usually couldn't do those, but I had heard that this one was a simple one to do, so I pointed my wand and in my head said 'Levicorpus'.

Instantly, a third year Ravenclaw girl rose in the air, yelling whilst her friends looked around for the source of the problem. The other boys laughed, Jade giggled, and Nick smiled shakily. I held the spell for a few seconds, smirking arrogantly, then used the counter spell and watched her drop with a shriek. Instantly I picked up a book and pretended to read. The other boys pretended to be deep in discussion and Jade inspected her nails. I saw the girls glare at our compartment angrily but they knew they couldn't do anything about it and so, stalked off. Adam walked in just a second after.

"Hey, nice wand work Zac. I didn't think you could do that. Heya Nick."

"Hi." Nick squeaked. I ignored him and spoke to Adam.

"It was just a demonstration for your brother. It's very simple really. So, do you think your brother is the type of person we're looking for?" I watched Adam closely. He shrugged.

"He's as good as you're gonna get." So much for brotherly love. I never understood it. Surely if you had a sibling you had to look after them, protect them, speak out for them. Yet all the people I knew complained about their brothers and sisters. It was a complete mystery to me. Nick apparently felt the same way.

"Hey," he squeaked indignantly, "I'm useful and you know it. Besides you need every Slytherin you can get, and that's the house I'm going to be in. So you'll have to have me whether you want me or not." The compartment fell silent. I stood up, walked over to Nick, who was barely half my height and picked him up.

"Was that exactly what you wanted to say?" I asked dangerously. The kid gulped then nodded. I narrowed my eyes and then burst out laughing. "You're right," I chuckled, "if you are a Slytherin then we will need you. But only then. Unless of course…" I let the sentence hang. Nick nodded furiously.

"I'll help no matter where I am. But I'm a Slytherin and you know it." I shrugged, perfecting my bored look.

"We'll see. Now get back to your friends." I waved a dismissive hand at him and he ran out. Adam reclaimed his seat.

"Thanks Zac." He muttered quietly. Tahir left to carry on with prefect duty. Jade snuggled back up to me. Seifer and Jake started a game of Exploding Snap. I shrugged carelessly.

"Kid's got potential mate. We could use someone like him." I replied, and then tickled Jade, causing her to shriek with laughter. I smiled. Sometimes it was nice just to make her happy rather than to concentrate on my plots.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. The only point I remembered was seeing Tammy and her friends walk past our compartment. She looked in and gave me a small smile. I winked at her. I never knew where I was with her- sometimes she hated me and thought I was scum, and sometimes we were friends. The one thing I knew I could count on was that she had never shown any inclination to tell anyone my secret. Neither had Shelly. In return for their silence, I made sure they were left out of the treatment we bestowed upon the rest of Hogwarts. I didn't think they were entirely grateful, which puzzled me.

We soon arrived at the castle. The first years went over to the boats as the rest of us climbed into the carriages, walked into the castle and into the Great Hall. We swiftly sat down on the Slytherin benches. Jade gave me a quick kiss and went to join her friends, who were sitting pretty much next to us anyway. This year, due to Professor McGonagall finally retiring ("About time too," Seifer had said, "I was beginning to worry that I'd walk around a corner and find her dead body.") Professor Longbottom was reading out the names and Professor Trent was headmaster. For the fifth time I listened to a dire song about the qualities of each house. I always hated this- from my point of view there was no better house than Slytherin, and all others were deluding themselves. This was just one thing I had tried to make clear to the school.

Professor Longbottom read out the names. I sized up the Slytherins who came this year. True to his word, Nick became a Slytherin almost as soon as the hat had been placed upon his head. The other Slytherins seemed a bit weedy, but I was sure they would suit my purpose well. Maybe some others in the other houses as well. Unlike my friends, I wasn't overly picky on the subject of who we used. My theory was the more people who helped us; the less people had to be punished. Sadly, not many members of the other houses shared my reasoning

The feast was the same as always, with me explaining to the other boys my plans for that year. Nick waved to us repeatedly until Adam told him to shut up. I was grateful- I despise rudeness to allies but sometimes it needs to be done.

At the end of the feast Professor Trent introduced a new teacher, Professor Ramik who was to teach Transfiguration and be head of Hufflepuff. Typically my friends did not listen, but I did. I was careful to hear any bit of information that could be useful to me, no matter how insignificant. He went through the rules again, informing us that Quidditch tryouts would be second week back, the forbidden forest was, as always, forbidden and that bullying was not accepted at this school. He directed that last comment towards our table but none of us were paying much attention. They said the same thing every year.

Finally we were sent to our dormitories. Seifer nudged me as he watched Tahir and Zoë try to get the first years attention and lead them to the common room where the other prefects would be waiting. I grinned- Zoë just didn't have the ability to control anyone, and Tahir wasn't much better in a noisy environment. Then I hurried out of the hall. I needed to get to the common room before the first years did.

After taking a few secret passages (that were really only secret to the first and possibly the second years) Seifer and I arrived outside the common room to be greeted by Ryan Reaver, the new senior prefect of Slytherin. He looked at me with some shock.

"Aren't you a prefect Carew? I thought you of all people would be." I smirked at this.

"Who? Me? Who in their right mind in this school would make me a prefect, except for possibly Chappell? Tahir's the new boy's prefect. Fancy telling us the password so we can get in?"

"Yeah, but you're the one who controls-"

"Reaver! Password if you please and don't have such a loose tongue inside your head" I had forgotten how talkative the seventh year was. He blushed and mumbled an apology. Then he told us the new password (Cunning) and we wandered in. Seifer looked around as a few more Slytherins came in, all waving to us and sloping off to their dorms.

"You want me to stick around or can I go straight to bed? I'm pretty tired." He made it sound nonchalant but there was a hidden plea in his statement. I considered it for a few seconds then told him he was free to go. For one thing Tahir would still be in the common room, and I only needed one person from my year. I sat down in one of the armchairs by the emerald fires and waited patiently as more and more Slytherins streamed in, many passing me a greeting or chuckling at the thought of what my task for the evening was. I allowed myself a confident smile- the Slytherins were evidently still willing to follow me. This would make life so much easier.

Eventually, just after the last group of Slytherins (three fourth year girls) went into the corridor which led to the girls' dorms, Tahir and Zoë arrived with the new first years, all looking exhilarated and tired, and all trying to hide it. The four other prefects stood up and Reaver proceeded to tell them the rules they needed to know. I stayed sitting- there wasn't much point in me joining them yet. I waited until Reaver introduced himself before standing. I swaggered forward to join the prefects, ignoring the curious looks I was receiving. Reaver grinned.

"And now boys and girls," he announced in the patronizing way that everyone used on first years, "we know you're tired but we think it's best if you listen to Zac here. He needs to tell you a little bit more about the way the school is run." He moved aside and I took his place. I smiled charmingly at them.

"Hi everyone, I'm Zac Carew, a fifth year." I began. "And I'm gonna explain to you exactly how things work at Hogwarts. You see, just like Ryan said, no other house trusts us. Can't think why of course," I flashed a toothy grin at them. Nick and a few others smiled nervously, already knowing. The prefects sniggered behind me. "But that's the way it works. But hey, isn't that just a little bit unfair? Like on my first day of lessons, a Hufflepuff kid ran into me. I told him to apologise but instead he tried to attack me. I mighta kicked him a few times to stop him but after that, well, the guy's never really liked me." I placed my hand on my heart in mock despair. "And as you can tell, I've never really recovered." I winked at them as they giggled at that. I couldn't remember being this easily won over when I was in first year but I knew that it was best to manipulate them at the beginning. "And thanks to the flying teacher, Professor Bell, I never really took to flying."

"He gets vertigo if he's higher than twelve feet," Tahir interjected. They laughed again. Of course, in reality, Tahir would never have said that but each part of this speech was scripted. Not that the kids realised that.

"Thanks for that Tahir. Anyway, you can see why we decided to do something about it. Just because the Dark lord went a bit mad and murdered a few hundred mudbloods doesn't mean we're all going to do it." I didn't let any of my distaste for that word into my voice. No one knew that I didn't like it and tried to keep it out of my speech as much as possible. I was very good at hiding it. "So why do we get treated like we've done something wrong? Not that I'm all for being sweet as an angel or whatever but that isn't right." I looked around, knowing that the question would come as it did every year.

"Yeah, but what can you do? Can't they just put us in detention?" A little girl asked. I smiled at her.

"Not if we were to cause trouble on the sly. Why, if someone were to fly in the air but no one spoke a spell, how can anyone be blamed? Besides, the more trouble we cause, the more the message gets across that we deserve better. Plus other houses learn who the real witches and wizards are." I looked at them again, knowing that they weren't completely convinced by me. "Just watch us tomorrow. See how many people get out of our way. And when you're interested, just talk to me or one of the prefects, or any of the fifth year Slytherins. Remember- we're only levelling the playing field." I winked at them again, ignoring the hollow feeling I felt at this corny acting. "And, now I think we should all go to bed. Goodnight." I waved and headed off towards my dorm as Reaver told the first years to wake up early so that they could be shown to the shower rooms. I found my bed, got changed quickly and soon fell into a deep sleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hey Zac, wake up already." I opened my eyes, looking blearily up at Adam.

"Wha…wha time issit?" I mumbled sleepily. Adam smiled.

"Seven twenty. If we go down now, there won't be many other people. First years will be leaving." I considered this for a moment, then got up and picked up my toothbrush, towel and robes. The other boys had already woken up and were waiting. As usual, I had been the last one to wake up. We walked out of the common room, nodding greetings to any other early risers. We spotted the first year Slytherins in the shower rooms, and one or two other people. I waved.

Half an hour later, we were all dressed in our robes, had put our night gear away and were heading to the Great Hall. I spotted the first years ahead of us, arguing about directions to the Hall. I smirked. As I recalled we had done something much the same. I gestured for the others to quicken their pace so that we would overtake the first years. This meant they could follow us without bruising their eleven year old pride. I needed no arguments between my followers.

We sauntered over to our seats without looking at where we were going specifically. If anyone was in our way they moved. A sixth year Gryffindor wouldn't move, so we barged past him without apologising. When he looked like he was going to say something, I turned and casually pointed my wand at him, ignoring any nearby teachers. The kid left it. We carried on walking and sat down as though nothing had happened. Seifer informed me that the kids were looking at each other with awe over what had just happened. I smirked.

Halfway through breakfast we received our timetables. Seifer looked at his and groaned.

"Divination first, followed by Charms. What could be worse? Oh God, History of Magic after that…double….but hey, potions last. That's not too bad. Zac," He turned to me. "What possessed me to take Divination?" I sniggered.

"You wanted to see into the future, remember? I told you that the future should be left alone, but you didn't listen to me. I say this serves you right." Seifer pulled a face of despair.

"I know. Still, Ancient Runes can't be much better." He perked up at the thought I might be worse off than him. I smirked.

"That's where you're wrong Seif. Ancient Runes is both interesting and useful. But, if you're sure Divination is so good can you please tell me what I'm gonna do in future?" Seifer smiled.

"If Patil has anything to do with it, you won't live to the age of seventeen. It's okay- neither will I or anyone else in this school apart from the seventh years who will probably drop dead like flies." We laughed. Professor Patil was notorious for predicting doom upon everyone. The only time that I had ever stood outside the room, waiting for Seifer and Jake, she had come out before them and had informed me that I would die in a blizzard at the age of fourteen. I had never had the heart to tell her I was still alive.

We finished eating breakfast, went back to our dormitory and collected our respective first lesson books, and our Charms books. We parted on the third floor, Jake and Seifer to go on their arduous trek up, me and Adam to go to Ancient Runes, and Tahir to go to Arithmancy. It always surprised me that a guy like Tahir was interested in maths, but then many people wouldn't have thought that I was the one behind the reign of terrorism in the school. I was very careful about that. Very few orders that were given came directly from me- they were handed down through a chain of people so that they became more difficult to trace. It was so effective that although many people suspected that one of the five Slytherin boys in fifth year was the leader, no one could be completely sure. This meant that the teachers could not expel any of us because it was obvious what would happen if the wrong person were to be expelled.

Ancient Runes was as easy a start as I could have hoped for. The teacher spent the first fifteen minutes telling us that we would all fail our OWLS and then spent the next five telling us that actually, we might scrape a pass after all. I couldn't help but wonder why she felt the need to explain it like that- it wouldn't lift any of our confidence and our work would suffer. I had learnt a lot about leadership from watching the teachers, and I knew that this was an ineffective way to teach us. That was probably why I spent most of the speech playing Hangman with Adam and Florrie.

The rest of the lesson was spent going over the basic Runes and introducing one or two new ones. During this time Adam informed me that the new Slytherins had had Charms first and that most of the boys, having seen our entrance to the great Hall, were very tempted to join us. I only smiled in response. Hopefully, the Charms lesson would have made up their minds for them.

Finally the lesson ended and we headed down to the second floor for Charms. I couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding at this. Charms were very useful, and I enjoyed doing magic, but Quake was just unwilling to give us a break or indeed any help at all. Any help we did receive was either given very grudgingly, or we gave it to each other. I wasn't too sure what he had against us but it seemed better not to ask. Yet.

We met up with some of the others as we headed down the stairs and lined up outside the room. A few seconds after we arrived, the first year Hufflepuffs left the room, scampering away from the big scary bullies that we obviously must have been (we were, but they couldn't have known that). Our first years followed, all muttering rebelliously. They spotted me then walking away, gestured for me to follow. My friends knew instantly what was going on, and said nothing. I followed them to a stature. The kids all looked at each other, then, one of the boys spoke.

"Hey Zac, you know that thing you were talking about?"

"Yes."

"Well…uh…we believe you." He murmured sheepishly. I smiled.

"Quake get you down?" I asked sympathetically. They all nodded.

"We'd like to help. I want to make those Hufflepuffs pay," a blonde haired girl stated. Her companions nodded in general agreement. I pretended to consider it but deep down I was thrilled. I had never won the first years over so quickly. After a moment or two of agonising silence, I nodded.

"Welcome aboard. Now get to your lessons, and meet us in the common room later." I said. Even Quake's deduction of ten points for my late arrival didn't upset me. I knew that, as always, I was going to make this school a living hell for all other houses. It would be fun.


	6. A Flash of Anger

Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter in any way whatsoever

Geth342: Shorter chapter than usual, but i didn't want the events of the next chapter in this one. Thanks for the reviews. i hope you enjoy it and please read and review.

Chapter 6: Anger

As I expected, Quake found any little excuse to take points away from us. He spent the first fifteen minutes explaining to us how difficult the OWLs would be, and how we would all have to work hard. Whilst glaring at us of course. I sighed impatiently. I was used to his disgust with us by now but it was still annoying to be glared at- we hadn't even done anything. Yet.

Similar to Ancient Runes, we started with the work we had finished the year before, in assigned pairs. I was placed with a Hufflepuff girl who looked positively frightened to work with me. When Quake read out the partners she gave me a nervous glance. I grinned savagely at her, enjoying her reaction. It always cheered me up.

The charm seemed simple enough, and after another fifteen minutes most of us had gotten the hang of it. My partner probably would have done if she hadn't been so nervous. I smirked as I watched her pitiful efforts. She was a fool to let fear get the better of her…just the kind of person I considered unworthy to be in Hogwarts. I didn't know, nor did I particularly care what her exact heritage was although Jake had mentioned something about her being a pure blood and so she should receive less treatment than others. I didn't particularly agree with this and I informed them that unless she was to understand who the leaders were, then she was to be treated in the exact same way as everyone else. Somehow, she always escaped the very worst treatment despite my orders. It was one of the problems I needed to fix.

Eventually she got the hang of the spell, by which time I had gotten so bored that I was sending notes to Jade and levitating Seifer's pen when Quake wasn't looking. The only reason I noticed was because she let out a shout of triumph which was so loud I thought my parents' next letter would be asking about it. She turned to me gleefully. I surveyed the results of her charm disdainfully, noticing out of the corner of my eye that the smile on her face was slipping. She kept staring at me and suddenly I realised that she was waiting for some sort of response from me. I had absolutely no idea why.

"Took you long enough didn't it?" I sneered, hoping that she'd leave me alone. She gasped and I could see her eyes begin to water. I turned away. She knew what I would say, so why did she wait for me to reply? Behind me I heard Tammy cry out congratulations. It didn't bother me too much- she was just trying to undo the damage I had done with my comment. That was the sort of person she was. It always puzzled me.

Finally Quake set us some chapters in our textbook to read and deducted another ten points from Slytherin because of my actions. None of us showed any emotion when he did this- undoubtedly we would earn them back in other classes and even if we didn't, everyone understood that such sacrifices were necessary.

The lesson ended and we went to stand in our usual spot in the courtyard. The girls joined us for once and for a few minutes we badmouthed Professor Quake. When we grew tired of calling him every bad name that we could think of, talk turned to plans for causing trouble in History of Magic. We would never cause any trouble in Potions because that would turn Chapell against us, and he was the only teacher we had the support of (Neclor had no prejudice against us, but he still didn't like Slytherins). The main problem we had with History of Magic was that none of us could stay awake long enough to do anything and Professor Binns wouldn't notice if we destroyed the classroom. It really was a bad lesson to have on the first day. In the end we agreed that causing trouble would do no good at all because the best that would happen was that Binns retired. Considering that he had been around for probably one hundred years, we all decided this to be very unlikely. Instead I would pass notes denoting any plans I had formed, and they would send back notes with suggestions. It was a better use of two hours than drawing idly on the table like every other student did.

The first hour went like we predicted. I managed to issue a few orders for the second years to be given, regarding the Gryffindors. They were always the strongest and so needed to be dealt with. For good measure, I also ordered that a few third years should help out as there was safety in numbers. I loathed second years- they were always cocky because they thought that as they had survived one year of Hogwarts they could act like they owned the place. It was our job to set them straight.

However, the second hour went differently. Professor Binns glided to the front of the room and droned:

"This lesson we will start learning about the rise to power of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Almost instantly everyone sat up. This sounded like it could be interesting for once. Professor Binns seemed slightly startled that we were showing this interest but true to his character he ignored it. Or at least, I thought he did. He began to drone on about his beginnings in a London orphanage, explaining that this had only been on the syllabus for the past seven years or so. For the first time in four years, we all took notes rather than assigning one person to do it as had been our custom (we found the lesson boring but we did need the notes in one way or another). Binns, encouraged perhaps by our new interest in History, assigned us two feet of parchment on the factors that lead to the Dark Lord's evil spirit in his childhood. For once, we didn't grumble.

We found ourselves with an hour for lunch and a potions lesson to look forward to. We headed to the Great Hall, swaggering in as usual, forcing kids to get out of our way or suffer the consequences. As usual we sat down and ate lunch, ignoring the glares from other students. What we didn't do was pay attention to the teachers, something that we really should have done. It was arrogant and as I hated arrogance I was furious when I noticed it, but by that point it was too late to remedy it.

After we finished eating, we headed back to the common room to grab our Potions supplies and brief a few idle Second years. They seemed eager to do the jobs I assigned. I guessed that the Gryffindors must have been their usual irritating selves already. How I hated them. They thought they were better than the rest of us because they had so many famous figures in their house. Most of them seemed to forget that we had Severus Snape in ours- the man who protected their precious Harry Potter from death. Without him, Potter probably would have been too clueless to work out what to do. Yes, they were brave but that was really all they had going for them- Professor Longbottom, their head was a testament to that. In addition to strutting around, acting like they owned the place, they saw the need to protect everyone else (even when they were perfectly capable of protecting themselves and had proved it before) and so ended up in the Hospital Wing a lot more than they should have done. Really, if they had the sense to leave well enough alone then they wouldn't end up with broken bones all the time. It was common sense, something which they clearly lacked- even the Hufflepuffs understood that they shouldn't stand up for anyone outside their house (they didn't have the ability anyway).

The one thing that really irritated me was the way they leapt to conclusions about us. They protected people who didn't want protection. I had come up with this theory in my third year and to prove it, at a point when Tammy and I had been getting along, I had a conversation with her in a deserted corridor when I knew a Gryffindor sixth year was nearby. I took my wand out to demonstrate how nice it looked after I had decided to polish it and the next thing I knew, I was being slammed into a wall. My back was bruised for two weeks after that, but I knew the Gryffindors weakness- the need to save everyone. It had been used accordingly.

We spent the last ten minutes levitating tables and talking about Quidditch. I didn't mind watching Quidditch but ever since my first attempt on a broom I had never taken to flying. Typically, both Seifer and Jake were on the team- Seifer was a Chaser and Jake was the Seeker. They liked to show off about it but they always stopped when they were near me. That made me feel worse if anything but I could never be bothered to tell them. It was such a petty thing after all. However I contributed very little to their conversation as we wandered down to the dungeons, choosing to talk about meaningless things with Jade instead who thankfully didn't like flying much either. By the time we were standing by the dungeons, the guys were discussing the stats of Ginny Potter versus Abdul Nisar, and Jade and I had decided that mince pies weren't really that great after all. The Gryffindors came half a minute later and ignored us. I saw May Zinnias and suddenly the temptation was too much. I winked at Jade and quietly drew my wand out, casting Levicorpus again. Thankfully the spell worked and she flew into the air, dangling and screaming. My fellow Slytherins laughed whilst the Gryffindors tried to get her down. I pretended to be just as clueless as everyone else, but I knew everyone suspected me. Terry Veraw came towards me, in a threatening manner but Tanya caught him with a Trip Jinx. This caused us to laugh harder as he fell. After a few more seconds I released Zinnias from the spell and watched impassively as she fell. As she got up, her friends came towards us in a threatening manner and Veraw had managed to pick up Jake (the smallest of the boys) by the neck of his robes when Professor Chapell came towards us.

"Veraw, put Mr. Whitrow down or suffer the consequences," He said in a cold tone. I smirked. Veraw put him down sullenly.

"But Sir," he protested, "they started it. Carew levitated May." Chapell looked at me.

"Is this true Mr. Carew?"

"No Sir." I replied innocently. "I didn't utter a single spell." I'm not given much to lying when the truth will work so much better. I hadn't said any spell, but Veraw was not to be silenced.

"He got her with a non-verbal spell. He must have." He sounded desperate and he knew it. We laughed, as did Chapell.

"A non-verbal? Mr. Veraw, you will not learn those spells until you begin your NEWTs. I highly doubt that Zac cast the spell. In fact," he narrowed his eyes menacingly, "I suspect that you are lying to me. Do you know that I detest liars Mr.Veraw?"

"Yes sir."

"Well then, you won't mind me giving you a Saturday detention for your lying tongue. An afternoon scrubbing cauldrons should do you the world of good. Correct?"

"Yes Sir." Veraw knew when he was defeated but he couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. As I walked past him into the room, I winked jauntily at him and smiled as his face grew red. I never tired of winding them up.

I sat down on a table with Jade and Zoë and watched silently as Chapell prepared his lesson. He looked a bit like a rounder version of Einstein, not that I had ever mentioned it to the others. I was always surprised that he didn't turn up in a white lab coat.

As a Head of House, he was pretty good. If he could take our side in a fight, he would. He was the only one who would listen to us and always tried to bend things in our favour. But the thing I admired the most (and which the others hated) was that he also tried to be somewhat fair to the other houses. If they had earned points, he would give them although never as many as what we would get.

The lesson began, similar to every other, with a lecture about OWLs. We listened in silence as he said that grades would need to pick up before we had any hope of passing. I noticed that this was directed mainly at the Gryffindors- we were so comfortable in the dungeons that we had no problems with potions (except for Adam who occasionally managed to make everything explode). The Gryffindors however were extraordinarily temperamental and most of them had difficulties with some of the finer points of Potions. Namely following the instructions.

After the long lecture, we were told to make a simple Drought of Sleeping as a way of revision. I moved to a spare table in order to give the girls (and myself) room. I filled my cauldron with water and put it onto a flame to boil, whilst picking up ingredients from the store cupboard. When it looked like it had boiled, I threw in some Wolfsbane roots and began to cut up Mandrake weed, ready to put in after my potion had turned a deep red. Glancing around, I noticed that already Charles had messed up by adding the wrong herb. I shook my head. The instructions were written clearly on the board, it didn't take a genius to read them. I turned back to my own potion, added my Mandrake weed and then began to stir. Beside me, Jade was hunting desperately for her last shred of Mandrake weed which she had misplaced whilst Zoë stirred her potion. I weighed out some Pixie wings and added them to the potion, watching as it turned brown. I cut some Belladonna leaves carefully and added them, stirring as quickly as I could. Chapell was walking around the room, inspecting potions and murmuring things like 'Pathetic' (to most of the Gryffindors), 'Calm down and try this' (to Adam and Tanya) 'Well done' (to most of the Slytherins) and 'Passable' (to the two Gryffindors who had actually managed to follow the instructions on the board). I looked up at the instructions and saw that I now had to let the potion simmer for five minutes and grind some Leechwort in preparation. This turned out to be a relatively easy task and so I found time to summon Jade's Mandrake weed (which for some reason had not occurred to her). As it happened, the weed was in her bag. I wasn't entirely sure how it had gotten in there and I didn't care much either. However the smile on her face made me glad that I had bothered. Being a good person wasn't my style, but sometimes it was nice just to act that way. Besides, it put people off guard and that always worked its way into my advantage. In my life, I needed all the advantages I could get.

I tipped the Leechwort into the potion and with a bored sigh and began to stir again. I liked potions well enough but sometimes it could be quite boring. However, this was about to change.

Zinnias, apparently still annoyed at us for her little 'flying lesson', walked past my cauldron and nudged it over whilst I was helping Jade. I turned back just in time to see the potion flow out and onto my school trousers and shoes. As it happened, without the last few ingredients, it was mildly acidic, and holes began to form in my robes and shoes. I swore and glared at Zinnias who was nowhere near as good at hiding misdeeds as I was.

"Look what you've done!" I shouted. The girl just smiled innocently.

"I didn't do anything Carew."

"What, so my potion just fell of its own accord?" I yelled furiously. She shrugged.

"Probably, seeing as you made it." I snarled at her. We had never really gotten on, and I found it more difficult than the others to get new things, such as clothes, due to my lack of Wizarding money. My parents were very strict about things like that, and would send money once a month for Hogsmeade trips. This, of course, meant that I had no money to order some more robes which in turn annoyed me (the fact that I could try and get them repaired hadn't occurred to me- if I was angry enough I would think like a Muggle and not a Wizard, something I tried desperately to change). That was why I plunged my hand into what remained of my robes, grabbed my robes and shouted the first spell that came into my head.

"_SERPENSORTIA_!" It was something I had read in a book and I wasn't really aware of its effects. So I was as surprised as everyone else when a giant black snake appeared. Sadly, the Gryffindors didn't believe me and started screaming at me, asking me what I thought I was playing at. My friends looked at me with awe. Chapell was surprised. No one was trying to work out how to get rid of the giant snake.

"Help!" Zinnias shouted as the snake lunged towards her. Still no one would help.

"Here Snakey snakey snakey." I shouted desperately. Unsurprisingly, it ignored me and lunged towards Zinnias again. I looked towards her friends hopefully, praying that their famous 'courage' would come into play. I didn't want to kill her. Scare her, yes. Injure her, maybe. Kill her, no. The way things looked, I was going to become a murderer- the Gryffindors were doing nothing, Chapell was too scared to move, and knowing my luck the snake was probably poisonous. I knew my house mates wouldn't help so it was up to me.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" I said shakily. A spurt of light flew from my wand and missed the snake, hitting a wall instead. I swore and tried again. It hit the snake in the back of the head, freezing it. Zinnias took the option to move whilst Chapell suddenly remembered that he was the teacher and with a flick of his wand, banished the snake. I glanced towards the girl. She was crying from shock, but there was nothing else wrong with her. One of her friends quietly asked for permission to take her to the Hospital Wing. Chapell agreed. They left in silence.

No one would make eye contact with me. I felt this was slightly unfair because I was the only one who had tried to save her, even if I had been the one who conjured the Snake. But I knew better than to protest. Instead I silently cleaned the potion off the floor whilst the class stared at me. Just as I had wiped the last of the potion up, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Chapell's pained face. I knew what was coming.

"Zac," he said quietly, "I'm going to have to send you to the Headmaster's office with this note. You could have killed her."


	7. Power

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form.

geth342: Well, this chapter is mainly dialogue but i couldn't think of another way to do it. It's normal length so all good. Please enjoy, please read and review. Remember-criticism is always accepted (as are friendly reviews and a mixture of both :P)

Chapter 7: Power

I took the note, picked up my bag and left the room without saying a word. I knew it wouldn't do any good to argue, but I also knew that this would be the last time I saw the dungeons. We were already on thin ice. The headmaster would take one look at the note and I would be heading back on the Hogwarts Express to join Matt in Ysgol Uwchradd Glanhwylio. No magic, just endless amounts of Maths, Welsh, English and everything else that the magic world was not. It was the life I thought I had escaped. As I trudged towards the Headmaster's office, I kept telling myself what an idiot I was. Why didn't I pick a spell which would have frozen her or just made her teeth grow or something non-dangerous? Why did I have to pick a spell with unknown effects? In fact, why had I begun the whole trouble making plot? Hadn't it occurred to me that nothing good would come out of it?

By the time I had reached the office I was in a very bad mood. I searched for the door and was stopped by a rude voice.

"Hey, you can't just force your way in. You need a password." It was the gargoyle. I growled angrily.

"Well I don't have a password, do I?" I snarled.

"Well I can't let you in, can I?" The gargoyle mimicked. I made a rude hand gesture and it sniggered.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked. "Just stand here with this note?"

"Works for me." It replied. I kicked it angrily, causing it to laugh again. After a minute or two I decided to try again.

"Listen, I've been sent here by my teacher. Chances are, I'm gonna be expelled. So if you let me in now, you'll never have to see me again. How does that sound?"

"Now if I let you in, I'd have to let everyone else around in. Including any dark wizards or thieves. I can't do that, so I suggest that you don't try to bargain with me."

"Can you at least give me a hint for the password?" I asked reasonably.

"What did I just tell you?" The stone creature replied patiently. I thought for a moment.

"You told me that if you let me in then you'd have to let everyone in, even though I don't see crowds of people." I said slowly.

"Exactly. The same goes for hints. You don't think all wizards are as dumb as you are, do you?" It laughed. I turned my back on it and thought. I could go and ask Chapell for the password but I didn't want to go back down to the dungeons. Perhaps if I stood outside long enough, the gargoyle would get bored. I turned back and sat on the floor, facing it. It didn't say anything, so I carried on staring.

After five minutes, the only mildly exciting thing to happen was that my bottom had become very cold. I therefore got a surprise when I heard a cheerful voice from behind me.

"Mr. Carew," the voice said, "may I ask why you have taken up residence in front of the gargoyle?" I spun around to see Professor Neclor smiling at me.

"Gargoyle won't let me in sir." I replied.

"Have you tried a password?" He asked. I smiled absent mindedly. Professor Neclor always had the ability to cheer me up, even if he was a Ravenclaw at heart.

"No sir. I don't have one- Professor Chapell didn't give me one." He carried on smiling.

"Okay. Let me try then. Gargoyle- the password is Dumbledore." The Gargoyle agreed and swung around, opening a staircase. Neclor headed up and I followed, sneering at the stone as I walked past. It ignored me.

Neclor went in first so I stood outside the door, reading the note. I wasn't supposed to but I figured that it was my last day in the magical world, certainly in Hogwarts so breaking a few more rules could not possibly hurt. To my surprise, Chapell had explained in the note that my temper had gotten out of control and that I was the one who stopped the snake again. But there was still enough evidence in it to damn me, and I had a feeling that I would not be able to destroy the note. Neclor came out and I swiftly re-folded the note and bade him a farewell as he wandered off without a care in the world. For the first time, I wished I was someone else. Preferably someone who wasn't in as much trouble as I was or more. But I knew that wishing was for fools with too much time on their hands- if we all sat around wishing, nothing would happen. I walked through the door.

"Hello there," the old man called, "Zac Carew isn't it?" He sounded cheerful- he was evidently a good actor. Only Neclor and Chapell liked us. It was common knowledge.

"Yes sir." I replied politely. He told me to sit down. I sat.

"So, why are you here then Mr. Carew?"

"Um…" I tried to think of a way to answer the question. Finally I handed over the note. "It's all explained in here sir." I mumbled and looked down at my shoes. If I looked down at my shoes then I wouldn't be able to see him tell me that I was expelled. It was completely irrational but I was too gloomy to care. Time passed slowly- had I been sitting there for five minutes? Ten? An hour? A day? Or was it just seconds? After what seemed like an eternity to me and three minutes to my watch, Professor Trent coughed politely, causing me to look up.

"This is a serious charge Mr. Carew." He said, tapping the paper.

"I know."

"Why did you decide to use that spell on Miss Zinnias? Surely you knew of the effects."

"No sir." There was nothing to lose with telling the truth. The old man looked shocked.

"You didn't know the effects?" He queried. I shook my head. "Then how did you come across the spell? And why use it?"

"I- I read it in a book somewhere Professor," I replied glumly. "I was really angry and I didn't think about what I was doing." I couldn't look him in the eyes- a sure sign of guilt. He shook his head.

"Mr. Carew…do you know why some spells are not taught here at Hogwarts?" He asked this question casually but I could tell that he was actually curious about my response. He probably wanted to see what went on in the mind of a 'mini death eater'. I thought for a moment.

"Because it's 'dark' magic and therefore unsuitable to be taught to the innocent minds of this school?" I suggested, unable to keep a note of sarcasm out of my voice. I didn't believe in Dark Magic. I only believed in people's choices in how they used the magic. This wasn't something I felt the majority of the school would agree with, so I didn't mention it much. Silence, as they say, is golden.

"Correct Mr. Carew. As it happens that spell is one of them." His voice was serious. I couldn't think of a response.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed." He put the note down. "Mr. Carew, let me be frank," he began. I felt like I was going in for a job interview. "Professor McGonagall and myself have been wanting to speak to you for a while now. In fact, after what Professor Binns has told me, I was going to send someone to collect you out of your common room this evening. Can you think of any reason why?" I considered my options. I could tell the truth and probably be expelled, or I could have a little bit of last minute fun and probably be expelled. I went for the latter.

"Haven't a clue sir." I replied defiantly, looking him straight in the eye for the first time.

"You really don't know?" He asked suspiciously. I nodded.

"Absolutely no idea." I confirmed. A look of surprise flashed across his face but he quickly hid it and began to make steeples with his fingers. It was a habit which irritated me but I felt that it wasn't the time to say so.

"Do you know the policy on bullying in this school?" He asked. He seemed to like asking questions- just like his old lessons. I nodded.

"Bullying is forbidden and will be dealt with severely." I recited in a bored tone. He nodded patronisingly.

"Correct. Now, over the last few years we've had some nasty incidents reported. And do you know where they seem to stem from?"

I couldn't resist messing around. After all, I would be kicked out soon.

"The Ravenclaws?" I asked innocently. I tried not to laugh as he spluttered in surprise. I needed all the cheer I could get.

"No Mr. Carew," he replied, "It's from the Slytherins." He stopped. "Why on earth would you think I meant the Ravenclaws?" The poor man couldn't see that I was pulling his leg. Still, if I could cause discomfort for another house before I left, I would.

"Oh they scare all of us sir. They like to tease us 'cause they're the smartest ones. It's very demoralizing. I always dread Herbology, having to put up with their grinning faces whilst I struggle." I said mournfully. He stared at me as though I had grown an extra head. I had a feeling my use of the word 'demoralizing' had given me away.

"Yes, well, I'll have a look into that." He promised quickly. I knew he was lying, but it still cheered me up. "Anyway, as I said it stems from the Slytherins. And the strange thing is it started when your year joined the school." He looked up at me. I wondered why he was waiting for a response and why he wouldn't just get to the point.

"That is strange." I agreed. It was the only thing I could think of.

"Can you think of a reason for it?"

"No sir." I replied. He hummed at me, which wasn't really an answer but I didn't think it a good idea to point it out.

"There have been murmurings of some sort of Slytherin organization in the school, headed by a fifth year. Perhaps the attack on Zinnias is a reflection of it?" I couldn't believe his audacity. None of us would be so obvious or stupid when we did attacks. Only an idiot would think so. I realised that he was trying to get a confession out of me. I shook my head vehemently.

"No sir. I was angry because she kicked my cauldron over." I told him. To my surprise, he smiled as though I had answered a question correctly. Which I really hoped I hadn't.

"Zac," he said, using my name for the first time, "I know why you got so angry."

"Because I have holes in my robes?" I guessed. He carried on smiling. I began to get worried.

"No Zac. Because of how you were going to get money to buy new ones. As I'm sure you knew, the potion made the holes irreparable." I hadn't known actually, but I didn't want to tell him that. I let him carry on. "Zac Carew, although you tell very few people, if anyone, you are a Muggle-born and your parents send you money once a month for you to change here." I stared at him, jaw hanging wide.

"H-how did you know that?" I asked, shocked.

"I'm the Headmaster Zac. I know the heritage of all my students."

But not how I get money I thought sourly. I looked at him.

"Well yeah, that made me angrier." I said to fill the silence more than anything else. He nodded slowly and stood up. I said nothing.

"Zac, I also know what you have been hoping." He said. I still said nothing. If he knew then he would have levelled the playing field long ago. He carried on speaking. "You want to know if you are an adopted child, a descendant of a wizard, specifically You-Know-Who. Because we both know that no Muggle born has ever been in Slytherin." He looked at me calmly. I stared back. He was clearly mad. Yes, I had wondered if I was adopted but I didn't really want to be related to the Dark Lord. He had been a great wizard, but people would have shunned me if they knew I was related. Besides, apart from the fact that they were Muggles, my parents hadn't done a bad job of raising me. And, in addition to that, I knew I wasn't related because he could talk to snakes and when I was trying to get rid of my snake, it had ignored me when I yelled at it. But this was his chance to be a big child psychologist and I thought it would take more energy than I had to discourage him.

"Well, do you know if I am?" I asked with fake enthusiasm. He shook his head sadly.

"You are not Mr. Carew. You have no Wizard ancestors as far as anyone knows."

"Oh." There was really nothing else I could say. To be honest, I was pretty sure that I was a Muggle born anyway. The man continued.

"But that is only part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. What do you know about You-Know-Who?" I was beginning to get annoyed with his questions. I glanced at my watch. Class had ended five minutes before. If I had kept my temper in check I would have been in the Common room talking to Seifer, arguing with Adam or kissing Jade. I sighed and decided to answer his question.

"He was a dark wizard who decided to take over the Magical world and kill Muggles and Muggle borns. He was the last living descendant of Salazar Slytherin He was killed by Harry Potter." I replied carefully. Trent nodded.

"Correct Mr. Carew." Apparently we were back to using surnames. "But did you know that he was a half blood?"

"No." I replied, shocked. I had always assumed that he was a pure blood- why else would he want to kill the Muggle borns? Professor Trent nodded sagely.

"It's true. He was the son of a witch and a muggle. Very few of his followers knew." I thought about this for a moment. He was a half blood yet he acted like he was a pure blood…much the same thing I was doing. Why was the headmaster telling me this anyway? It was all very confusing for me.

"So…how d'you know…sir?" I asked.

"It's become a known fact now. You'll learn later on in the topic you're studying with Professor Binns." He replied. I nodded absent-mindedly and waited for him to continue. He remained silent. Eventually I felt I had to ask.

"Um…sir…why are you telling me this?" I watched him as he studied me for a moment, making me feel like a monkey at the zoo.

"Because," he replied after a few moments, "I want to discourage any new 'pure blood' nonsense that may have arisen. It is of serious concern to us. And considering your class' response to Professor Binns this morning, I felt it necessary to tell at least one of you."

"Oh okay," I said casually, as though it hadn't mattered much to me. Inside, I was mentally kicking myself. Binns had noticed us. Our organization was based on the idea that staff wouldn't notice us. How could we have been so obvious?

"Oh okay indeed," Trent was saying. I looked back up. "You see, I wanted you to know that no matter what he said, Pure bloods were not the most powerful and did not have a right to murder other Wizards. And, considering your own heritage Mr. Carew, I think you would do well to bear that in mind." He nodded at me. I nodded back, feeling foolish. Thinking about what he had just said, something occurred to me. He hadn't said anything about my expulsion.

"Uh sir…" I asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you…am I…aren't you going to expel me?" I struggled to get the words out, sounding like a stuttering fool. Trent didn't appear to notice.

"No Mr. Carew, I am not. There has been a case, somewhat similar to yours about forty years ago. Worse in fact because the user intended harm and knew what would happen. In that case there was a parseltongue nearby who stopped the situation and the spell caster was not expelled. This and the fact that you were provoked means that you will not be expelled either. However, you can expect Saturday detentions for the next three weeks with Mr. Rewn and a letter to your parents. Is that fair?"

"Y-yes sir," I said as calmly as I could. I couldn't believe it. I was getting away with nothing worse than detention and a letter to my parents who would be disappointed but knew that they couldn't really control me here. Everything had worked out well.

"Is there anything else?" Trent asked. I shook my head. "Well then, you'd better get going. Doubtless your friends will want to know what happened. I will also tell your parents to send more money so that you may order new robes. Goodbye Mr. Carew."

"Bye sir." I said and ran out of the room and down to the common room. I had to work very hard to keep the smile off my face and avoid as many students as possible. Something told me that getting in trouble straight away would do me no favours. As I reached the familiar stone wall, I slowed down to an amble and after giving the password, sauntered in as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened (despite the fact that my robes were still very holey and my boxers were just visible). Almost as soon as I walked in, Seifer gave a load roar of astonishment and Jade ran up to me and gave me a huge hug. It surprised me. She wasn't given to large shows of affection in public, especially considering where we were. I couldn't help smiling as I returned the hug- it showed how much she cared for me. Sometimes, I could never be sure.

"I was so sure you were going to be expelled," She whispered. I smiled at her.

"Me? Be expelled? Why, who would organize the plan then? And who would be going out with you? Don't you worry about me Jade." She laughed. It gave me a weird feeling- as though we were two normal teenagers in Hogwarts, instead of the manipulative, cunning Slytherins we were supposed to be. I liked the feeling. After a few more moments we let go and Jade pulled me along to one of the sofas. I sat down. Seifer came up to me and clasped hands.

"Zac," he yelled, capturing the attention of anyone who hadn't noticed me already, "how do you do it? I tell ya, you get even with Zinnias, scare her into the next century and ya still walk away free." He smirked at me. I smiled back humourlessly.

"Well, I wouldn't have been in that trouble if someone had helped me get rid of the snake," I replied sourly. The smile went off Seifer's face.

"I thought you wanted her to be attacked." He said carefully. The other boys gathered around. I glared at them.

"No, I wanted her scared. Injured maybe. But not killed. Use your brains Seif. That snake could have killed her and no amount of work on our behalf would have stopped them from kicking us out." Adam stepped in.

"Why do you care so much. You could say it was an accident. She's only a half blood. Mum's a Muggle from what I hear." He said.

"Yeah well, I'm a half blood. Jade's a half blood. Loads of us are. If you take that attitude with Zinnias, you have to take it with all of us." I could feel the atmosphere getting frostier. Adam's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe I will." He replied. I stood up.

"Go on then. Take me on." He raised his wand but before he could do anything, I cast the body bind curse on him. He froze. I looked around. "Anyone else want to take me on?" I asked. No one replied. I smirked. "Good." The crowd took another look and then dispersed to armchairs and sofas or dorms. Seifer timidly suggested that I unbind Adam. I performed the counter curse but immediately put the leg binding curse on him. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't do anything. I watched the boy silently as he spluttered for breath. When he was silent, I spoke.

"Do you want to say something about the way this plan works Etasyl?" I asked quietly. He shook his head.

"No, I…overreacted a bit." He smiled weakly. That was his catchphrase- most of the arguments he got into were because he overreacted. "I don't really want to get rid of all the half bloods. There are too many of you. I was just worried about you after what happened." I considered him for a moment and then lifted the curse.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for cursing you as well." I said. He nodded and we shook hands as a way of apologising. I sat back down next to Jade who asked what had happened in Trent's office. I tried to brush it off but the others wanted to know.

"Well," I began, "He told me all this stuff about how bullying isn't acceptable and how the Dark Lord didn't have the right idea. Spent ages talking about that."

"Then what?" Jake asked.

"Told me I wasn't going to be expelled but I do have detention." I replied. My friends looked at each other.

"So, why'd you take so long then?" Tahir asked suspiciously. I smirked arrogantly, whilst trying to think of a way to make up for the time I had spent talking about adoption and my heritage.

"He kept asking questions instead of getting to the point. I think he wants to be a psychologist." I replied. I tried not to stop smiling when they all looked confused.

"What's a psy-psychologist?" Seifer asked. Inside I winced. I hadn't known that they didn't have psychologists in the Wizarding world. I quickly improvised an answer.

"You're telling me you don't know about psychologists? How dumb are you lot?" I asked. They looked at each other. My jibe had gotten to them- no Slytherin likes to be called stupid.

"I think I heard of something like it," Jake muttered, "but I'm not too sure what it is." I shook my head in mock despair.

"They're Muggle healers for the head. They look at the way you think." I said slowly, as though speaking to the very stupid. After a moment of silence as they digested what I had just said, Adam burst into laughter.

"Just like Muggle boy to know about useless things like that." He chuckled. The others joined in. I smirked- I had gotten away with it.

"Hey, what do you expect from someone who was nearly a Mudblood lover? Besides, someone needs to know about the ways of the enemy. Am I right or am I right?" I said cheerfully. The boys laughed and hit me playfully (although Adam's punch hurt and made me think he hadn't forgiven me for cursing him). The girls shook their head. After a few more minutes I stood up to go to the dorm. I couldn't be bothered to sit down- I really wanted to lie on my bed and think and also change my robes. I felt a hand grab what remained of my robes.

"Where ya going?" Seifer asked.

"Dorm."

"You can't. You gotta talk to the first years, remember?" I cursed under my breath. I had forgotten all about that. I asked where they were. No one knew, so I told them to fetch me when they turned up as I really needed to change my robes. I left and went to the dorms.

After changing my robes, I lay on my bed and thought about the day's events. It hadn't been the start I wanted, but I had learnt some things. The teachers were definitely suspicious and were watching us. That needed to be remedied. Adam and many others wanted to purge the school, something I didn't want. I would sort it out when the time came. And perhaps the most important fact for my reasoning- the Dark Lord had been a half blood. Trent had told me that to impress upon me how equal we all were but something had occurred to me. I was a Muggle born, but I was one of the best Wizards in our year. So were some of the other half bloods and yes, one or two pure bloods. But, looking at what I had achieved and what the Dark Lord had achieved, I knew that my friends' ideas were wrong. Pure bloods were the weaker wizards. Those with Muggle connections were the most powerful. As a member of the strongest house, I was set to become one of the most powerful wizards the world had seen.


	8. Quidditch Fun

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form

Geth342: Sorry about the long update- i've had exams and loads of homework. This is mainly a filler but i hope you enjoy anyway. Please read and review and i'll try to update quicker

Chapter 8: Quidditch Fun

I only lay on the bed for fifteen more minutes. Seifer came in and informed me that our new recruits had finally found the common room, with some help from the fourth years. I grimaced and swung out off the bed and wandered into the common room with Seifer following just behind. He told me that the first years seemed a little sour, which was just the way I wanted them to be. Looking at them, they seemed very annoyed.

I didn't want to create the impression that I had come in specifically for them so I wandered over to the other boys and talked to them for a few minutes. I noticed that Adam was less willing to speak. I wasn't surprised- we both knew that that had been the first time I had used magic on one of my followers who hadn't tried to betray us. The fact that it had been on him, one of the inner circle, made it much worse. I hoped that he would get over it at some point. Maybe if I gave him a task he would really like, or some sort of reward. I would need to think about it.

Eventually, I looked around and spotted the first years. Smiling, I waved at them. They waved back less enthusiastically. I walked over to them, signalling for Tahir to come with me.

"Heya everyone. Good day?" I said cheerfully.

"Yeah, I suppose," Nick said doubtfully.

"You didn't get into trouble already did you?" I asked. They shook their heads, not paying attention to some of the laughter from those who had heard my question. I had a feeling I was the only person to get in any sort of trouble that day- causing trouble on the first day was not the done thing. "So, what's bothering you?" I queried. They looked at each other.

"Well…this Gryffindor picked a fight with Ben, just because he was talking about filth. Not even the kind of filth that gets to learn Magic with us. He was actually talking about how dusty the Dungeons were and said something about Mud and Blood and then the Gryffindor charged at him, telling him he was going to pay for that insult." A red headed girl said. I counted the group. One boy was definitely missing.

"So, where is Ben?"

"Hospital Wing. Broken nose, but no one will say that the Gryffindor did it. We tried but it was Professor Quake who caught us and…" She trailed off.

"He didn't believe you." I completed. They nodded. I turned and smirked at Tahir briefly then turned back. "Well, what about revenge?" I asked.

"Um…" One of the girls muttered but the others didn't say anything, until Nick spoke up.

"Is this to do with your organisation?" I nodded.

"Listen, you've seen what they're like. All up in our faces because they think we're worthless. We're not though. So, all you have to do, is show them why they're wrong." I signalled to Tahir who walked forward and held out some spherical objects.

"Throw these at them," he said, "and watch the effects. Do it so you aren't seen though." He handed Nick the objects and the First years immediately began to inspect them. I began to walk away when one of the girl's voices stopped me.

"What if we mess up?"

"Then you messed up. Just…try harder next time." I replied. She was obviously insecure- no other Slytherin ever contemplated the idea that we might fail. Or if they did, they didn't say it out loud. It was a strange thing to ask, I thought.

"So we…we wouldn't be…um…punished?" The girl had begun to blush. Adam, Jake and Seifer had heard the question and had come over. I could barely look at Adam as I answered.

"No. Not unless you betrayed us." The girl's face brightened up. I waved and walked away before anyone else had a chance to ask me a question. I just wasn't in the mood. Besides, it was time for some Dinner and I was hungry. The events of the afternoon had made me sorely hungry, so I grabbed Jade and we walked out to the Great Hall. Jake and Seifer followed us, talking about Quidditch tryouts which would occur next Monday. As we sat down, Seifer felt I was safe enough to joke around again.

"So Zac," he said cheerily, "you want to try out for the team?"

"Yeah," Jake laughed, "he could be Keeper."

"Or Beater." Jade added with a wicked grin. I pulled a face at them. Underneath their laughter, I knew they wanted to see how far they could push me but I was used to that.

"I have three words for you lot. Go to Hell." I responded. They burst out laughing again.

"Hello Seifer." This wasn't any of us. It was a very small Ravenclaw girl with brown hair, green eyes and an innocent smile. No one I knew, but someone who evidently knew Seifer. I looked at him. He snarled at the girl.

"Buzz off, freak." He said angrily. The girl looked hurt. Jake sniggered. I pretended to join in but something was bothering me. That wasn't the way he usually talked to other houses. He was usually much ruder.

"I just wanted to say hello." The kid said sadly. Seifer shrugged.

"Well you said it. Which is very strange because I don't have a clue who you are."

"I'm-" The girl started.

"Yeah, I don't care either," Seifer interrupted, "just go back and stop bothering me." The girl looked at him then turned away without another word and walked back to the Ravenclaw table. Jake was telling Seifer that that was a weird encounter and Jade was agreeing, but I remained silent. It was possible that Jake and Jade hadn't seen anything very weird in the encounter, but I had a feeling they were trying to draw out more information in true Slytherin fashion. Despite the way he had acted, it was clear, at least to me, that Seifer was lying. He knew that girl but he didn't want any of us to know. It was possible he even liked her because he had been far more polite than usual. And his last line – _Which is very strange because I don't have a clue who you are_. That sounded like he was desperately trying to get us to believe him. I decided to find out a bit more.

"So…why d'you think that girl picked on you?" I asked casually. Seifer shrugged.

"How would I know?"

"Well, she seemed to know you."

"So?" Seifer snapped. "She probably heard my name and thought it'd be funny to do that. Quit asking questions." Jake and Jade raised their eyebrows. Seifer was being very rude to me, even if I was his best friend. Perhaps too rude, considering I had only asked an innocent question. I smiled benignly.

"Hey, I'm just saying mate."

"Well stop it. Do you have to know every detail of my life?" Seifer glared at me. I considered him and remained silent. Eventually, Jake broke the uneasy feeling by telling us about the antics of his older brother who had somehow gotten a job in the Ministry with a department full of serious Witches and Wizards, a complete contrast to him. Soon, they had forgotten all about the incident. Even I stopped thinking about it and joined in. But I kept it in the back of my mind. It wasn't just that Seifer knew some small Ravenclaw and didn't want us to know, it was also that he had accused me unfairly of wanting every detail of his life. He probably had forgotten, but he didn't mention a lot about his home life. He was very good at avoiding the subject. And I never pressed because it had never really interested me. But now, I was very interested. At some point, I would have to worm it out of him.

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Three weeks later, I hadn't gotten any further with getting the information, so I decided to wait. Besides there was a far more pressing plan to enact. The Quidditch Team tryouts had already occurred and the match for Slytherin against Gryffindor was to happen two weeks after them. I would never order something to be done at the match in case we killed them (the usual push and shove was acceptable) but upsetting the players was definitely a good idea.

It was the insecure First year who had given me the idea. I was sitting in the Common Room at the beginning of the second week, attempting to finish an essay for Ancient Runes when she came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder politely. Which startled me because usually Slytherins just come up and say 'Hey Carew, I need to talk to you', then present a scheme with many hints at how great they are for having thought it up. This girl, Kali, gave me her idea in more plain words.

"I've been thinking," she said in her quiet tone, "what sort of things do you actually do?"

"Cause trouble, make people sorry for the way they treat us." I shrugged in reply. I carried on writing my essay, but I was curious about why she was asking, so I kept an ear open as she asked her next question.

"What kind of things do you do though? How do you cause trouble?" She sounded innocent, but I knew that she was playing dumb. After five years as the leader, I knew who the stupider people were and how to tell who they were. Kali wanted something.

"Curse people without them seeing, play pranks on them, insult them. Maybe a spot of beating up for those who deserve it." I replied in a nonchalant voice, as though I wasn't really thinking about the meaning of my words. Two could play at her game.

"So…would changing the names on the Quidditch players' robes count as a prank?" She sounded curious, but I could see the excitement on her face. I decided to play it dumb.

"What? Our Quidditch players? Why would we do that?" I saw a look of contempt flash across her face. I would have smirked but that would have blown my cover. Because of that, Kali would underestimate me. When she needed to prove her loyalty, I would see if she was actually loyal. If she didn't understand who was the leader she would turn on us and I would punish her, the one thing she seemed to fear. As a Slytherin she would want a better deal for herself which included getting rid of any fools. So, she would need to know that it was either follow me, or be punished. She would not be able to outsmart me.

"No," she said, keeping to her innocent tone, "I mean the Gryffindor players. Like put stupid names on their robes." I had to admit, it was a good idea. An original one too. I always give praise and credit where it is due.

"Yep, that would work." I replied. "In fact…" I paused for dramatic effect. "That is an idea. Needs a lot of work but I think we could do it. Well done Kali." I was careful not to give too much praise. Generally, I didn't give a compliment unless I thought someone had earned it. And being nice just wasn't my thing. Not that Kali could have known all that.

I carried on writing my essay. After two minutes, I looked up from the essay so that I could grab my Dictionary and saw Kali. I asked her why she was still there. She wanted to know when the plan would be done. I said I didn't know, but presumably _after_ I'd finished my essay and would she mind leaving me alone. She left. I watched her go through half closed eyes. There had been something else bothering her, and I had a suspicion I knew what it was. She wanted a reward. I smirked lazily. Slytherins were so predictable. I didn't know why everyone was so scared of us- if you knew how to speak our language then you couldn't go wrong. But that of course was part of the problem- most people couldn't think the way we could. As far as I was concerned, it was just one more thing that gave us the advantage.

I only got an A for that essay, because I wrote something about Quidditch instead of friendship. I blamed Kali but it wasn't the time to seek revenge. Maybe later, if I had the time, although if I was a completely fair person, I would have reasoned that it wasn't really her fault. The next week, I spoke to some of the sixth and seventh years about the idea. They were the ones who were most likely to know how to change the names on the robes and to put a time spell on it, so they were the obvious candidates to ask to do the task. I spent that week learning the spell from Reaver, so that I could join in, and besides, more spells meant more power. It was something I could not stress enough to the other Slytherins who would often reply that that was a Ravenclaw idea. Despite my prejudice against other houses, I still felt that there was something to be gained from each one. The courage to go through with our deeds from Gryffindor, loyalty to the leader (me) from Hufflepuff and the need for knowledge from Ravenclaw. However, convincing others of this had exactly the same results as convincing them to attack Pure bloods as much as Muggle borns.

The only problem I had by the end of the third week was that I had completely forgotten about Seifer and his little Ravenclaw. It was something I would think about just before I fell asleep and then forget when I woke up. But I supposed that I would find out if I waited long enough, and neither Jake nor Jade seemed bothered about it, although I could never be certain.

Eventually, I had mastered the spell and we had come up with a plan. As Kali had requested, she was helping out as a lookout due to the fact that she didn't know enough magic to do much else. Reaver was not accompanying us, but wished us luck and promised to divert any teachers who went on the warpath for us- after all, a teacher could not doubt a senior prefect without being called prejudiced. Sometimes I sincerely hoped Quake would try it, just so that he would get fired. So, at about eleven o'clock on the night before the match, me, Kali, two sixth year boys, a sixth year girl and two seventh years, set out to the changing rooms by the Quidditch pitch, dodging any prefects or wandering teachers.

We had sent a few people to get useful information a few days before. For me, the beauty in this plan was that it would affect all the Gryffindors, yet no one would blame us. For the others, it was just another way of torturing the Gryffindors. There were some things I just could not get them to understand. Kali and one of the sixth year boys, Luke, stood at lookout. I walked up to the door of the Gryffindor changing rooms, took my wand out and breathed the unlocking spell. I grinned as I heard the tumblers in the door open. I knew that getting into the cupboard where brooms and balls were stored would be too hard, but getting into the place where robes were kept wouldn't be. After all, who sabotages Quidditch robes?

Once we were in, I gave the order to spread out and look for the robes. The rooms were fairly small and so I was not surprised when we found them after a few minutes. I looked around at my followers then picked up a robe.

"What are you waiting for?" I hissed. "Get to work before Bell or someone catches us." I gazed at them coldly and they instantly set to work, being careful to check whose robe they had picked up. I turned my attention back to my robe and discovered that it was the keeper's. I smirked as I whispered the incantations and watched as the others completed theirs. One of the seventh years did the robe that we had not done whilst his friend Eva checked that we had done ours correctly. I looked around, watching for any signal that someone was coming. None came.

"Boss…hey boss!" Eva hissed. I looked at the seventh year. Why they all called me 'boss' on a mission was beyond me, but I never changed their minds. The feeling of power that came with the title was nice.

"What?" I hissed back.

"We're all done. Shouldn't we go now?" I rolled my eyes at this.

"Yes, and if you had waited, I would have given the signal. Be more patient," I hissed back angrily. Then I moved my hands in the recognised signal for us to leave and I walked off, not looking to see if the others were following. If they dawdled they would get caught but that would be their fault. They had to accept that something was either done correctly or they would pay the price. I was not their nursemaid.

I gestured to Kali and Luke and we set off whilst Eva locked the door to the changing rooms. As we walked we split apart slowly until I was walking by myself. If a teacher spotted me, hopefully I would be the only one in trouble. The same went for the other Slytherins. My route took me near the lake and I could have sworn that I spotted someone sitting by the tree overlooking the lake. Not only that but when I walked past, despite being about twenty metres away, the figure turned and looked at me. I wanted to see who it was but it wasn't the right time- I needed to get back- so I carried on walking and hoped the figure wasn't someone from another house who had recognised me or I'd be serving more detentions.

Thankfully no one caught us and soon I was back in the dorm changing into pyjamas. Next to me, Jake moaned in his sleep, evidently having a bad dream. Vaguely, I wondered what it was about but I wouldn't find out. Talking about your bad dream is like talking about your weakness. You just don't do it.

I went to sleep, smiling in anticipation for the match the next day.

I woke up at eight thirty the next morning, later than usual because it was a Saturday. I noticed Jake, Adam and Seifer had already woken up but Tahir was still asleep. I considered waking him up but it seemed to take too much energy so I left him sleeping. Breakfast didn't end until ten anyway, so as long as he woke up before half nine he would be alright. After getting dressed quickly, I wandered down to the Great Hall and sat next to Seifer who was just finishing.

"So…what was the plan?" he asked curiously. I had told few people so that if they were questioned, they wouldn't be lying when they said they didn't know. I smiled enigmatically in reply.

"Aw, come on, tell us." Jake pleaded. I shook my head.

"You'll have to wait and see boys."

"Or you could tell us now." Seifer pointed out.

"But that would ruin the surprise. Wouldn't it Zac?" I looked up at Adam, who had just spoken. His face was impossible to read. We were still friends but after the magic incident he had seemed a little cold to me. I nodded cheerfully.

"It'll be a way to boost your morale kids." I chuckled. They shrugged and got up, presumably to rest up before the match. I carried on eating, talking to Adam about the chances of our team winning. He wore the same unreadable face.

At eleven o'clock, we went to the Quidditch stands, ready to start cheering for our players. Jade was on one side of me and Tahir was on the other side, chattering excitedly about thrashing the Gryffindorks (his new and not very creative name for them).

"Hello and welcome to the first match of the year: Slytherin Vs. Gryffindor. Here come the players now." That was the commentator, sounding as excited as usual. I always wondered why he got more excited about a bunch of teenagers on brooms than anyone else. "Here come the Slytherins- Lonig, Salisbury, Quisling, Apolit, Langtree, Farley and Whitrow." We all cheered as our players swaggered on to the pitch, brooms in hand. Jake was grinning even more than usual and I knew he was thinking about what we had done to the Gryffindors.

"Watch the backs of the Gryffindors." I murmured to Jade. She smiled and nodded as the commentator carried on speaking.

"And here come the Gryffindors. Veraw, Trott, Danforth, Stickler, Stewart, Davies and Pennsky…wait, what's this? What's on the back of their robes? It looks like…someone…changed their names. What's this…Dropsy, Misser, Chancer, Flipside, Faller, Toad and…Hero? Oh, hello Prof. Longbottom…" His voice trailed away as Professor Longbottom, apparently, took the magical loudspeaker away. We were in fits of laughter as the Gryffindor players started arguing and the other houses looked confused.

"Danforth!" Longbottom shouted. The Gryffindor captain and one of the beaters flew up to the teacher. "What is the meaning of the names on your robes?"

We couldn't hear what the boy said but it must have annoyed Longbottom because he shouted for Pennsky to come up. I could not help laughing then. Pennsky was the most mischievous player on the Gryffindor team and was well known for practical jokes. He would keep denying it but the evidence against him was too strong- he had the name 'hero' on the back of his robe.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T GET THEM OFF?" Longbottom screamed. I looked up and saw Pennsky try to explain what he meant. As it had happened, we had discovered that if you cast a charm several times, you needed to use the spell _Finite Incantatem_ the same amount. We had done it twenty times which they wouldn't think to do.

Eventually they decided to play the match and deal with Pennsky afterwards. The players were too annoyed with him to concentrate and he was so upset he kept missing the Snitch, giving Jake an easy win. It was one of the best plans we had had for a long time.

The party we had in the evening was fun but something had occurred to me. My parents had received a letter about my bad behaviour.

Why hadn't they written back to me?


	9. A Good Name

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form whatsoever.

Geth342: Well, this is a nice long chapter for all of you. I'm slightly concerned that i'm not really getting many reviews and whatnot. Seriously, if anyone has any suggestions whatsoever on how i can improve my story, i'll gladly accept it. Other than that, please read and review and i hope you enjoy.

Chapter 9: A Good Name

I soon discovered why my parents had decided not to write to me (apart from sending some money) two days later. As usual we had woken up earlier than most people and so when we were eating our breakfast, we had about forty minutes before the first lesson of the day. Our Owls knew when we ate breakfast (my parents had finally caved and let me buy one by second year) and so, just as I was finishing my scrambled egg, Achilles, my tawny brown owl arrived and held out its leg with two letters- one from Matt and one from my parents. I grabbed the letters before anyone could see that they were envelopes with stamps on and ran off to the dormitory. By now my friends were used to me disappearing when I received letters and although they probably wondered why I wouldn't read them in the Great Hall, they had given up questioning me about it.

I sat down on my bed and drew the drapes around it, just to be sure. I knew that my parents' letter would be a telling off so I decided to open Matt's first. There wasn't a lot in it.

_Dear Zac,_

_How are you up in England? Is it raining? It's raining down here but then, when is it not raining?_

_We're still doing GCSE work. What did you say you took again? I thought you told me but when I try to remember, it keeps slipping my mind. I thought you said something about History and Biology but surely you had to take Biology? Agh, you're as infuriating as ever, do you know that?_

_How are things going with Jade? Me and Sheila are doing great but her friends aren't too fond of me because they think I'm an emo. Just because I like wearing black. How unfair is that? Luckily Sheila doesn't listen to them._

_Can't think of much else to say. Your parents did mention you getting into big trouble on the first day back. Why am I not surprised? What did you do?_

_Reply soon._

_Matt._

I read it a few times, considering my replies. I vaguely recalled him talking about GCSES. I had fobbed him off with History and then talked about something completely random. Scanning the letter I wondered what an 'emo' was. Perhaps he had meant 'emu' but that made even less sense. Why would he be a bird? It occurred to me that I had Muggle items and I was scared of being found out as a Muggle Born but I seemed to know very little of their actual world. When I had spoken to Matt in the summer, I had found myself unable to talk about football due to the fact that I couldn't remember any of the teams. It was quite a weird thought.

I put the letter deep in my trunk so no one could find it and hurriedly picked up the other letter.

_Annwyl Zac,_

_Sut wyt ti? Rydyn ni'n bendigedig a mae hi'n byrw glaw. _(Dear Zac, How are you? We're fine and it's raining)

_Okay, we'll stop talking in Welsh since you dislike it so much. This is quite a serious letter and I hope you'll understand why we haven't written to you for so long after you read it._

_First things first, what's this we hear about you setting a snake on another student? Zac, that's a terrible thing to do. Professor Trent said you could have killed her. I'm not sure where you got a snake from but I want you to put it back and apologise to the girl. We're withholding your money for the next two months as punishment. If you were at home we would ground you, but as it is, we'll find a suitable punishment for you in the Christmas holidays._

_Well that's enough of the bad part, although it's still serious. Now we're going to explain why we haven't replied for a while. I'm sure you won't mind._

_You see, your mother went for a scan and we wanted to make sure we knew the results before we sent you a letter. _

_Guess what!_

_Your mum's pregnant. You're going to be a big brother Zac! _

_We don't know whether it's going to be a boy or a girl. Your mum wants to call it Chad if it's a boy but if it's a girl, well, we have no ideas for names. Have you got one? Reply back with one._

_We hope you're as excited as we are. And don't worry. A new baby will never replace you (the doctor said you might feel insecure at this knowledge. You know how I feel about all this psycho babble but I thought you'd like to be reminded anyway)._

_Reply back soon._

_Love Mum and Dad (and your unborn sibling!)_

I read the letter again, sure I had misread it but I was wrong. I fell backwards with shock. I was going to have a baby brother or sister. After fifteen years of being an only child, there would be another kid in the house.I didn't know what to think.

In stories, they always write down exactly what someone thinks when they receive this news, but it's never right. I can't write down every thought and feeling that went through my head. How could I explain it? I didn't know whether I was excited or annoyed. What if my father was wrong and the baby did replace me? When the kid would be my age, I would be an adult with a job and maybe even with kids of my own. What if they were magical like me, but they were sorted into Gryffindor? Perhaps I would have to look after him or her, teach it how to think.

I don't know how long I lay there but it must have been a long time because Jade and Seifer wandered into the dorm, asking why I had taken so long. I quickly altered some of the Muggle type words on the letter and changed the appearance so that it looked more like parchment than normal paper. Even at my worst moments I was careful. I refused to let my guard down to anyone.

"How did Jade get in here?" I asked when I was finished. I had known Seifer would respect my privacy which was why I had only grunted when they had come in.

"I walked." Jade replied, smirking. I pulled a face at her.

"Girls aren't allowed in the boys' dorm I thought."

"True," Seifer laughed, "but apparently nothing stops them from coming in anyway. And no getting off the subject. Why were you gone so long?" I shook my head.

"I…uh…I received some…interesting news." I mumbled in reply. Somehow, it was hard to say it.

"Well we knew that." Seifer drawled. "Care to tell us what it is?" I looked at their eager faces. Should I tell them? I knew I didn't want loads of people to find out but I supposed I could tell my best friend and my girlfriend. Even if we were Slytherins, there had to be someone I could trust. Eventually I handed over the changed letter. They read it silently and then put it down, looking as shocked as I felt.

"Did your parents ever mention wanting another child?" Jade asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know what to think about it, or what to reply. It's strange." I said. Jade sat down next to me on the bed and gave me a hug. I felt slightly better.

"You never know, a new brother or sister could be nice. You would have someone to continue the plan after you leave" She said cheerfully. I mumbled a sort of 'yeah' as I wasn't sure whether my new sibling would actually get into Hogwarts. Maybe it was a random thing for Muggle borns. Seifer meanwhile had said nothing, only looking at the wall. I looked at him.

"Seif?" He jumped.

"Yeah…oh right." He looked at us. His face seemed to hold some pain which he swiftly brushed away. "I think it's good news." He said softly. "It's nice to have a sibling. Stops you from getting lonely, y'know." He smiled weakly. I was surprised- it wasn't a very Slytherin thing to say and certainly not his usual outlook. "Well we should get going to Herbology. Come on." He turned and walked out of the room. I looked at Jade who shrugged and followed him. I left too.

"Oh guys." I yelled. They stopped and waited for me. I quickly told them that I didn't want anyone else to know. I said it in my order tone, ensuring their obedience, and then we carried on walking.

The others couldn't figure out why I was so quiet for the rest of the day- I could not concentrate on any lessons because I kept thinking about the new member of the family. I wasn't even sure what I would call it if it was a girl- names meant very little to me. In fact, I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I did not notice that Seifer, usually so loud, was being as quiet as me.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A month later I still had not replied to my parents apart from a letter to Matt. Every time I picked up my quill, nothing would come. I still didn't know what to think and I couldn't ask anyone for advice. The leader could not be seen to be weak.

In addition, there was another thing taking up my concentration. Professor Ramik, the new Transfiguration teacher seemed to have decided that as well as a Halloween feast, the one thing we all really wanted was a ball for third years and older. Although we all acted cynical about it, it was a welcome change from the usual 'Pumpkin eating' and we all, in our gruff way, asked people if they wanted to come with us.

When Ramik, had announced it, she had mentioned something called 'dress robes', which I promptly found I had very little money for- my parents had stopped my money for the next two months and so, when I did order some, I ended up with very old, ugly dress robes. None of the Slytherins laughed at me directly, but I knew those who had seen the robes arrive were giggling about it when my back was turned. It irked me. I hate people laughing at me. However, the good news was that I already had a date- Jade. To my surprise, as the weeks got closer to the Night of the ball, I found that I was actually looking forward to it.

The ball was to take place on the 30th October, so that the feast could take place on the traditional day. After lessons had ended we all rushed to our dorms and tried to make ourselves look respectable- easy for my friends, hard for me. I did succeed in repairing one or two holes, making it look cleaner and destroying a very frilly cuff but there was no disguising the fact that it had clearly come from a second hand shop. To make up for this, I tried to make the rest of myself look as presentable as possible and, failing that, I thought up some curses for people who laughed at me. It wasn't my fault I had old robes. If anyone laughed at me they would just have to pay the price.

Finally at about quarter to seven, Tahir, Jake and I walked into the Entrance Hall to meet our dates. I noticed that Jade's face fell when she saw what I was wearing and then she covered it up with a false smile. I smiled back just as falsely. Just once, it would have been nice to talk to someone who didn't care about the things I owned. Still, I had to make do with what I had so I walked up to Jade, smiled charmingly and asked her if I could have the honour of escorting her. She giggled, nodded and then took my hand. I winked at Jake who was talking to Zoë and walked into the Great Hall with Jade.

It was covered in Pumpkins and green and orange paper. Some other students were already there and so was the band Professor Ramik had hired. I didn't know which band exactly because I paid very little attention to the world of music in the Wizarding world. It had started out as a sort of protest against the Sorting hat's song and had ended up as a habit, partly because no one had actually paid attention to this particular boycott. At the top of the hall was a buffet table, a new thing for Hogwarts. I couldn't help smiling when I saw it- just when I thought I had the school figured out, something new would turn up just to remind me how lucky I was to be there. Sometimes I could not believe how the pure bloods and half bloods took that world for granted.

For about ten minutes, Jade and I stood talking to some other Slytherins whilst more and more people crowded in. Apparently this dance was extremely popular. I had to hand it to Ramik- she knew what she was talking about. Finally, the music began and food appeared on the buffet table. As kids swarmed onto the dance floor, I looked at Jade.

"Buffet table?" She asked impishly. I grinned.

"Got it in one." We waved to our companions and walked over to the table. The one thing we had in common was our love of eating at parties. Whilst everyone else would be playing some game or cursing some innocent chair, Jade and I would be by the food challenging each other to eating competitions. Obviously we didn't spend the whole time doing that but it was our philosophy that if there was food there, it was better to eat it than let it go to waste. When we arrived there, we found that most people did not follow our philosophy. One or two people were grabbing food but we were the only ones who had piled it high on our plates. We sat on a bench and started to eat, feeding it to each other and childishly daring each other to eat random combinations of the food. We were laughing so much by the end of it that I almost managed to forget about my dress robes. Almost.

After we had eaten enough and had recovered from our mad food experiments, we went onto the dance floor next to Jake and Zoë who weren't taking the slow dancing entirely seriously. I couldn't help but smile when I saw their interesting interpretation- a kind of jogging in circles, switching from Slow Dancing to Waltzing and every so often jumping in the air. They were definitely one of the couples who were enjoying themselves the most. It was probably because neither of them fancied the other. They had decided, after discovering the people they liked (I didn't know who because they would not say) were taken that the other alternative was to go together. This allowed them to have a good time and keep up appearances. I had to admit, it was a good solution although the other students didn't really agree with me. They looked disgusted at this new take on Slow Dancing, even the Slytherins.

"What do they think they're doing?" Jade said, looking to see where I was looking.

"I'm going out on a bit of a limb here," I said, twirling her, "but I'd say dancing." I caught her again and we carried on dancing.

"Yes but it's not the proper way to do it."

"So what?"

"So they look like idiots. It's not traditional." She shook her head. I stared at her.

"Yeah, but they're having fun and isn't dancing meant to be spontaneous? Besides, just because someone set a way doesn't mean we have to stick to it." I didn't know why I said that. I sounded almost like a Gryffindor and certainly not my usual way of thinking. But as we glared at each other, I realised that I believed what I had just said. Besides, why would one lousy opinion change the way I acted? After a minute of frosty dancing, the song ended and a new, faster one started. We separated and started dancing to the new one. After a minute, Jade spoke again.

"Zac…what did you mean about not having to stick to stuff?" She asked. I thought for a moment.

"Well, you know…it's like just because something's been done for years doesn't mean we should always do it. Like…um…oh, I've got one. Like the fact that all the houses treat us differently. It's been done for years but we've all agreed it's not right. Do you get me now?" I smiled, proud of myself for having come up with such a clever point. Glancing at her, I noticed that she didn't have the same opinion as me- she frowned and opened her mouth to say something and then she changed her mind.

"Yeah I guess…" She said eventually. She grabbed one of my hands and we carried on dancing. I couldn't help but wonder what she had been going to say the first time.

The next three hours passed uneventfully. We danced, talked and ate some more food. Up until then it was a typical dance. Then Jade suggested we dance with some other people and wandered off to a group of girls. I merely shrugged and sat down on a nearby bench. I had been tired anyway.

For a while I just sat, watching my friends and other students dance. Tahir and Florrie seemed to be getting on very well as did Adam and Tanya much to my surprise. I had thought they were too similar to make a good match but maybe I was wrong. In the magical world anything was possible. As I watched, I realised that I didn't know who Seifer had gone with. I had thought Angela Paxton, Tanya's friend but she was going with a sixth year. Looking around a bit wildly, I finally spotted him. He was dancing with a third year girl. She was often the butt of her friend's jokes and somehow I hadn't been surprised that no one had asked her to go with them at the time. Watching them now, I realised why Seifer had not told us and why he had stayed away from us. Despite what he wanted people to think, underneath his manipulative exterior, Seifer had a heart of gold when it came to younger students. I didn't know why but he just got on very well with them. He must have felt sorry for her and offered to go with her. I smiled as I watched him teach her how to tango. Sometimes I wondered what a guy like him was doing in Slytherin. Then I remembered some of his jokes and ideas and realised that he was a Slytherin through and through.

"They make a sweet couple." A voice said from beside me.

"Yeah, they do." I replied without thinking. I hadn't even checked who had spoken. It seemed that on that evening my guard was being let down more than ever. It had to stop.

"So, you here alone then Zac?" The voice asked. I turned to look at the speaker. Somehow I wasn't surprised that it was Tammy, who wasn't looking at me directly but was speaking to me. I carried on looking straight ahead so that no one could think I was talking to a Hufflepuff.

"No. I'm with Jade. She's gone to dance with some of her friends and I'm tired. What about you?"

"I'm supposed to be with Nat but…" Her voice trailed off and I realised that she was looking at a couple on the dance floor. I looked casually and spotted the blond haired boy dancing with another Hufflepuff. Tammy saw my look and carried on speaking. "Well he's been with her for most of the night so I guess I am kind of alone." Glancing at her, I noticed that she was trying to smile. I nearly offered to dance with her. Then I remembered who I was and who she was, so I kept quiet. I did find myself planning horrible punishments for Nat for some inexplicable reason but then, I probably would have done that anyway- I had never liked him. We did not speak for a while.

"Oh hey Tammy who're you talking to…oh…hello Zac." I sighed, irritated, and turned to look at the new speaker.

"Hello Shelly." I replied, as icily polite as she had been. Shelly tolerated me because I was friends with Tammy but she didn't like me. The funny thing was that I knew it was because of the way I had acted towards her in the first few days of Hogwarts and not because of my house. It was one of the reasons I went out of my way to be polite to her. I certainly didn't like her.

"Not dancing Zac?" She said, trying to make some small talk.

"Not right now. You?"

"My boyfriend's just gone to get a drink."

"Oh right."

"Uh huh. Anyway, Tam, why aren't you up and dancing?" She turned her attention towards her friend and I carried on sitting and not really concentrating. In fact, I hadn't even noticed that Shelly had left- presumably with her boyfriend - until the band decided to announce a little game. Apparently you had to grab the nearest person of the opposite gender and dance with them. A good idea for most people as they were with their friends, a bad thing for me as a quick look showed me that Tammy was the nearest girl. I decided to stay sitting.

"Hey! You two! I hope you don't think you're getting out of this. Every person includes you." I groaned as a bright light shone on me and Tammy and every eye in the hall turned to stare at us.

"Um…I'm a bit tired. Can't I just sit out?" I shouted. The band member laughed.

"And leave the pretty girl by herself. No sir, you've got to get up. Besides, it's a slow dance so you'll be okay. Go on, up you get." More and more people were laughing as Tammy turned as red as her hair. I glared at the band and grudgingly walked up to my friend and took her hands. The band applauded and began the song.

We danced for a few seconds and then moved apart, figuring that the band would not notice. Unfortunately the man had been serious when he said we had to dance because he immediately noticed, stopped the song and refused to carry on until we got back together. We both agreed not to try it again.

After a few more seconds of mindless rotation and twirling, Tammy decided to start a conversation.

"So, why do you have those…interesting robes? Surely a guy like you would have some better ones." She said, smiling to take the sting out of her words. I pulled a face.

"No money to get better ones. I didn't tell my parents about the dance." I twirled her around. When she returned she asked me:

"Why didn't you tell your parents?" I shrugged.

"Because then I'd have to reply to the rest of the letter and I can't think of a reply yet." I said carefully. She looked confused.

"Well why don't you have a reply? It can't be that hard. What was the question?" I stared at her. I wasn't about to tell her what my Muggle parents had wanted. Then again, I thought, she wouldn't tell anyone else. She had proved that with the secret about my heritage.

"My parents are having another child and they want me to give it a girl's name, in case it's a girl." I muttered swiftly. The confused look did not leave her face.

"That's it?" I glared at her. Why did she have to be so calm about it?

"Yeah well I don't know what to think about it. And I don't know any good girl's names. Like, no special ones." I explained. To my surprise, she smiled.

"I reckon it's a good thing. Always nice to have a sibling. And as for a name, why do you have to pick a 'special' one. Why not an ordinary one?"

"I want her to stand out, y'know. It's annoying to have a common name. People call it and everyone with that name looks." We stopped rotating for a few seconds because we had both become rather dizzy. When we started again, she had thought of a reply to my statement.

"But you could find a common name more useful. It helps you to blend in with the crowd more. I mean when someone mentions a Tammy, everyone knows it's me. But if someone were to mention a…I dunno…a Tom, then you wouldn't know who it was. So you could call her…Holly. Yeah, I've always liked that name." She smiled, pleased with herself. I considered it for a moment. Perhaps she was right- I could always use more people who blended into crowds for my work.

The song lasted for roughly twenty seconds more and to my astonishment, I was actually sad that it had ended. When it finished, we moved apart and looked at each other, trying to think of something to say. Eva solved the matter by coming over to me and informing me that Kali had wanted to know whether her Quidditch plan had been any good, and to top it off, called me 'Boss'. Tammy looked at me with disgust and shock as I weakly protested that I didn't know what Eva was talking about. She walked over to some Hufflepuffs and so I turned as well. I could not help cursing the day I had met that annoying first year. As I walked over to Jade, I felt Tammy's eyes on me, suggesting that for some reason she was as sorry as I was that the dance had ended, even though she was now angry at me (and I could not even work out why she was angry at me). Jade walked up to me, saw that Tammy was watching and pulled me into a passionate kiss. I held it for only a few seconds and then disengaged myself, ignoring my girlfriend's hurt look as I glanced around for Tammy. The damage was done- Tammy had walked away and somehow I knew she was upset. I decided not to go and talk to her.

I shook my head at the thought I had just had. Why should she be upset if my girlfriend kissed me? And what's more, how did I know that Tammy had taken offence more at the kiss than the suggestion that I might have had a part in the Quidditch Robe prank? I became disconcerted for the rest of the evening- I hate not knowing the answer to awkward questions- and eventually I went to bed before the ball had ended, claiming I had a headache.

All through the night, I tried to think of a way to apologise to Tammy even though I had done nothing wrong. The answer did not come and so when I finally woke up the next day I was very grumpy. It was only when Seifer whispered to me that he was curious about what I was going to call my new sibling if it was a girl that the solution occurred to me. As I scribbled the name down, he asked me why I had chosen that one. I merely smiled and told him someone special had suggested it and he left it at that.

As the owl flew off, I wondered what my parents would think when they read my reply. It was only three words long.

_Call her Holly._


	10. Confrontation

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form.

Geth342: Short chapter. This chapter is dedicated to two people. the first is mon94key who has reviewed a lot, so thanks :)

The second person has never read this story. Edward Scott died on 5th February 2008, a victim of leukemia and heart failure. He was in my year at school for five and a half years. I did not know him very well but from what his friends have said, he was a lovely person, always ready to make you smile. He died before his time.

If you have time this week, donate to a cancer charity. If the cure was found, this young man would still be alive.

Thank you.

Chapter 10: Confrontation

I didn't speak to Tammy for a while after the dance. There was just nothing I could say. In the end it seemed easier to remain silent than to make a fool of myself. I didn't have anything to say which could be put into words anyway.

I did see her in Charms lessons and around Hogwarts of course but we both acted as though the other did not exist. The Hufflepuffs seemed a little colder to me than they usually did, but then again they had never liked me much to begin with so the change didn't really bother me much. I'm not sure that the others even noticed. All in all, life seemed to be getting back to normal.

Weeks passed and soon it was the beginning of December. People were walking around in warm scarves and gloves, hiding from the snow and talking about their plans for the holidays. We had already made ours. We would spend one week with our families and then spend the second week over Adam's. I couldn't help but notice that we seemed to be taking turns with staying over people's houses- only Seifer and I were left out of the boys. I dreaded the day when I would have to invite them over to my house.

In fact, the only thing that seemed at all irritating was Professor Quake. I didn't know what that man's problem was but the closer it got to Christmas, the more determined he was to take points off us. He took ten points off Tahir for laughing whilst we were performing some charm. That just seemed so pointless that Adam had told him so and lost twenty points from Slytherin. And that was only at the end of November.

Soon it was the last week before the Christmas holidays and despite ourselves, we were all excited. I missed my parents, even though I knew that the moment I got home I would be grounded for setting a snake on Zinnias. Adam scowled about having to return back to strict rules but I thought he probably appreciated the break. Jake was just happy because he was going to see his brother. Tahir was as impassive as ever and Seifer…I didn't know how Seifer felt. Happy, I supposed, like the rest of us.

But, of course, Professor Quake seemed determined to ruin it for us. On the one but last day of term, he turned up in a very bad mood. No sooner had he told us that we were practicing a colour changing charm then he had taken twenty points off Slytherin and bizarrely, five points off Hufflepuff. Asking for any help with the charm was clearly out of the question as the merest glance at him caused his face to turn an interesting shade of red.

In other words, it was a normal Christmas charms lesson.

About halfway into the lesson, both Travis and Angela had managed to make their mice change from white to red. Professor Quake gave Hufflepuff their five points back and grunted at Angela's attempts. He then told the rest of us to pick up the pace. Exactly how we were meant to cast charms quicker, I was not sure about but I really did not want another detention so I tried saying the charm quicker and quicker. Seifer noticed and joined in, and soon all the Slytherins were trying it. After a few minutes, I think I even spotted some frustrated Hufflepuffs trying it.

The problem was that the charm we were trying was very similarly worded to another spell which would cause a miniature explosion. Someone, and no one was quite sure who, said the charm in such a rush that they stumbled over some words. It was extraordinarily lucky that Quake heard the charm in time as he suddenly shouted for everyone to duck underneath tables. We ducked, surprised. We were even more surprised when a miniature explosion occurred and tables, chairs and many other items went flying. I don't think I had ever been as scared as I was then. That feeling of terror is so rare that I have felt it maybe three times in my life. That was the first time.

When it was over, almost as quickly as it had begun, no one moved for a few seconds. Then, slowly, Professor Quake stood up, his purple face accented with black dust. He trembled with rage and we could tell that he was using all of his self control to keep from shouting when he told everyone it was safe to stand up. We stood up.

I looked around. The room that had been a normal classroom just one minute ago was now unrecognizable. Tables had been blasted into walls and chairs and benches were now broken. The cupboard in the corner was a pile of wood and the door was hanging off one hinge. Every single person in the room was injured in some way. I was beginning to think that I had been lucky and escaped the blast when Seifer looked at me and pointed to my arm in shock. I followed his gaze. There was a piece of wood stuck there and now that I had noticed it, the adrenalin I had felt in the explosion disappeared. My arm began to throb painfully, making me regret ever standing up. Looking around, I could see at least three other people with the same thoughts as me. One of the Hufflepuff girls was unconscious. It was a miracle that no one had been killed.

"Everyone to the Hospital Wing." A voice hissed, breaking the enveloping silence. "Tomorrow, I want everyone and I mean everyone to be back in this room at lunch time. I want to know who is responsible for causing this destruction." Professor Quake looked just as dishevelled and frankly, I was surprised that he hadn't screamed at us. Why scream at us for small things like laughing and then only hiss when we destroy a classroom? It didn't make any sense to me.

Needless to say, Mrs. Fry was not impressed with our charms class' antics. She healed us all and let everyone except the unconscious girl go with dire warnings and orders as to how to keep our new found health. As we sat in the common room, later that evening, I could not stop staring at my arm and thinking about my lucky escape.

Little did I know that this escape would come with a price.

The next day was the last day of term and it should have been a glorious day. But, of course, we had to report to Quake at lunch. The morning passed uneventfully. I spotted the Hufflepuff girl walking around so I assumed that she had recovered. Finally, the bell rang. A lunch time lecture from our worst teacher was not exactly my idea of fun. Still, if we did not go, we would have been given more detentions than we wanted so grudgingly, we trudged off to the Charms classroom.

To my surprise, the classroom was in a much better condition than it had been the day before. If I had been thinking, I would have remembered that with magic, problems such as a destroyed classroom were easily remedied.

The Hufflepuff boys had already arrived and the girls arrived just after we did. We sat down on the new benches and looked around sheepishly, waiting for Quake. We did not have long to wait- the man walked in, glaring at all of us as we watched him in silence. After a minute of glaring at us, he began to speak.

"Well, you all know why I asked you to return here. Yesterday, some idiots messed around with the spell and destroyed the classroom. I want to know who is responsible. Now." No one said anything. Quake repeated his request. Eventually Travis stuck his hand up lazily.

"Professor, it was the Slytherins. They were the ones who were messing around." The teacher turned to glare at us. I looked at Travis who smirked. Growling, I stuck my hand up.

"Professor, we weren't messing around. And some Hufflepuffs did it too sir. If you're gonna punish us, you've gotta punish them too." I protested. Quake looked at me coldly.

"Mr. Carew," he said slowly, "you have a reputation as a liar and I know the sort of pranks you pull. I believe that Mr. Hart is correct in saying that you and your friends caused this." I stared at him, gobsmacked. He was willing to take that arrogant Hufflepuff cretin's word, over mine without so much as looking at evidence.

That was where I made my mistake.

I was so furious that instead of taking a calm view and plotting revenge for later I stood up and shouted at Quake.

I called him a biased old man who thought he had the right to bully us.

I told him that the reason people failed Charms was because of his poor teaching skills.

I told him that people always called us rude but if he was an example of someone who wasn't a Slytherin, I thought everyone would prefer us.

I probably would have said more if Seifer had not managed to pull me down and clamp a hand over my mouth. He was too late however. Although nothing I had said had been incredibly rude, it was enough. His face turned that interesting shade of purple.

"How-how dare you!" He spluttered. "Hufflepuffs, you may leave. Slytherins, stay behind to receive your punishment. Mr. Carew, I will speak to you after I have dealt with your classmates." The other Slytherins groaned as the Hufflepuffs looked triumphantly at each other and left.

"Now then, I hope after yes-"

"Excuse me Professor." A polite voice interrupted. We all turned to look at the brave speaker.

"What is it Miss Rowland?" Quake asked, barely containing his temper. Tammy ignored the nine stares of loathing and the one stare of curiosity (mine) as she answered.

"Um…well, Z- I mean Carew was right. Some of the Hufflepuffs were messing around. I was, so I deserve to be punished." There was a quiver in her voice but she bravely disguised it. Behind me, I could hear Angela ask Tanya why Tammy was willingly siding with us. Quake seemed to be thinking the same way- his mouth was wide open with shock. The red head looked around pleadingly and I decided that I really should save her. Especially as I had seen a way to turn the situation to my advantage.

"Rowland, shouldn't you be sitting down with us then?" I called out. Tammy looked at me nervously. Adam caught my drift.

"Yeah, sit down Hufflepuff girl. After all, the Professor said he was punishing all of us." He yelled out sneeringly. Tammy turned as red as her hair as the others caught on and told her to sit down. Trembling, she sat, as far away from us as possible. Quake had not said a word all this time.

We then proceeded to sit in polite silence for a few minutes until Quake finally got his voice back. He glared at Tammy.

"Well then Miss Rowland, if you feel you must be punished then by all means stay." He growled then looked at the rest of us. "I hope your little prank yesterday proved to you te-eleven- how dangerous magic is. You cannot use it to fool around. It can have disastrous consequences. No one escaped from that blast unscathed. And it could have been worse. Someone could have died. Did that occur to any of you?" He was shouting by the end of this. We looked down and mumbled apologies. This did not deter him. "I don't suppose I can press the seriousness of this upon any of you. Your heads of houses will be notified and the Headmaster has been notified. There will be letters home to your parents tonight. In addition, each and every one of you has detention with me for the first month after Christmas. I will tell each of you when your respective detentions are." We groaned. He sent everyone away except for me because, of course, I was the one who had yelled at him.

I shifted nervously as everyone else left. Tammy was the last to leave and I thought I could see a look of pity in her eyes, but when I checked her face again, it had gone. Suddenly, the Christmas holidays did not look like they would be too much fun. I was in trouble for the snake prank already and something told me that blowing up a classroom was not high on my parents list of good things to do.

Professor Quake would not speak or even look at me. Eventually I felt I had to start.

"I-I'm sorry for what I said to you Professor." I mumbled nervously. "It was completely out of order and I guess I was just annoyed and….Professor?" He still had not looked at me. This man, famous for his temper at Christmas was just remaining quiet. I began to feel even more nervous. Finally, he spoke, still looking at the wall.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked quietly.

"O-of course not," I gabbled. Quake shook his head.

"Did you mean what you said Zac? I want the truth."

I felt I had to tell him the truth. I didn't know why. Perhaps it was something in his tone.

"I did partly. Except for failing Charms sir." I replied bravely. Still he would not look at me.

"You believe that I hate you and your house, am I correct?" He asked in the same quiet tone. I didn't say anything but he was perceptive. He knew what my silence meant. "You are incorrect. I do not like anyone who misuses Magic. That counts for most of the student population here at Hogwarts. It also goes for a large amount of adult Wizards." He broke off and looked at his desk. My question came out before I had the chance to stop myself.

"Why did you become a teacher then Professor? Surely you'd prefer to be somewhere where Magic can't be misused."

He became silent again. It was beginning to bug me. Shouting at me, screaming at me, hissing at me, all these I can put up with. But someone just being silent was new to me. I didn't know how to react.

I was just about to ask him if he had a punishment for me when he finally spoke.

"I became a teacher in order to help children grow into responsible Wizards. There will always be some that do not listen however." He looked at me for the first time. His face was strange. Like he was suffering some sort of pain. "You say I am biased towards your house and perhaps in some form you are correct. It is your house who is usually the least responsible with magic. And you, Mr. Carew, are definitely showing a tendency towards this." He looked away again.

"But that's not all of it, is it sir?" I pressed. He shook his head slowly.

"No Zac, it is not. I assume you have heard of the Death Eaters?" I nodded. "And you have heard of the Battle of Hogwarts, when He Who Must Not Be Named was finally destroyed." I nodded again. He noticed and, after opening a drawer in his desk and taking something out, handed the object to me.

It was a photo of a boy not much older than I was. He had spiky black hair and a cheeky face. I studied it for a few seconds. I think, in the back of my mind, I knew what he was going to tell me about this person. But I didn't want to know his fate. I think I thought it would have been too painful for me.

"This is your son, isn't it sir?" I asked to evade what had to come next. He nodded.

"Yes. His name was Edmund and he died fighting the Death Eaters in the war. Not a day goes by when I don't miss him, even though it has been thirty five years. He was only seventeen. He was too young to fight in that battle but he stayed behind anyway. I can only wish that he had listened to the teachers but then, I know that he would not have been the son I am proud of." He sounded oddly stiff and formal and I realised that he obviously didn't say it much. He didn't want people to know.

And there was nothing I could say.

I mean, what could I say? Sorry? Sorry that a group of people killed your son? I didn't know how to deal with it. Whatever I had thought he would say to me when the others left, it hadn't been that. And looking at him now, I knew that whatever he said, he blamed my house for the death of his son. After all, that was where the Death Eaters had spawned from.

After a minute or two, he had not said a word. He looked down at the table. Was he crying?

The silence became over bearing. I needed to say something, if only to break the silence.

"I-I'm sorry sir." I stuttered. I wasn't even sure what I was apologising for. He still said not a word so I continued. "He musta been a hero."

That got his attention. He looked up and although his cheek seemed shinier than before, he didn't appear to be crying.

"Yes, he was." He replied. "But note this. Edmund was as big a hero as anyone who fought in that battle. Yet he and many others who died on that day do not get songs sung about them, get lumped together in one day, and get ignored. That is the cost of war." He looked into my eyes, a deep brown colour meeting my blue ones. I wasn't sure why he was telling me that. He coughed and the spell was broken. "Now, as to your punishment…I think fifty points off Slytherin and a week of extra detentions with Mr. Rewn should do it. That and an essay on the misuse of magic and its effects."

I looked at him and quietly told him that I agreed. He told me that I could go and so I turned to leave. Before I left however, I felt that I should say something. He had told me something incredibly personal. Surely I should say something back. But what?

Nothing.

There was nothing I could entrust to this sad, broken man. I left without a word.


	11. The cave

Disclaimer: i do not own harry Potter in any shape or form

Geth342: Sorry about the long update. I've been really busy. Anyway, got this chapter up now so there ya go. By the by, i thought i should mention, if anyone is wondering why i never seem to reply to a review, it's because i only reply if someone asks me a question or brings up a point i feel necessary to clarify. Otherwise, i will very rarely reply. Please feel assured that i do read each and every review and they make me smile :)

Talking about reviews, i hope you enjoy this chapter (because the next one may not come for a long while) and please read and review.

Chapter 11: The Cave

The Christmas holidays could not come soon enough for me after that. More than once I had to be reminded that wizards did not have the power to make time move faster, much to the amusement of my fellow Slytherins.

I didn't tell any of them exactly what Quake had said to me. When I told them about my extra punishment at lunch, I saw Tammy look at me oddly. It was strange- almost as though she knew something secret. I shook my head impatiently. I had enough problems on my plate without adding an extra mystery.

The train journey back was uneventful. We didn't argue once and as usual, when we arrived on the platform, I bade everyone a quick goodbye individually and used the chaos of parents meeting offspring to escape through the barrier and meet my parents. I convinced them to leave quickly as I put my head down. I left without anyone seeing me. The holidays had begun.

Typically, as soon as I got home, my father gave me the third degree about setting snakes on people and causing classrooms to explode. I mentioned that the exploding classroom was technically not my fault but he yelled at me even more and informed me that I was grounded for five days of the week I was spending with them. I smiled as I trudged to my room. It was good to be home, even if my family didn't quite understand the magical world.

Christmas that year was quite busy. My father's brother and his family came over. Jack was about my age and Sharon was two years younger. At the beginning I got on well enough with them but I found myself thinking longingly of my friends at Hogwarts. Muggles had quickly become tiresome- all the problems they talked about could be solved with a flick of a wand but of course they didn't know that and I couldn't tell them. Listening to Jack talk about his pen breaking in school and not being allowed to get a new one until the next week was almost more than I could stand. I sorely wanted to tell him that using _Reparo_ would have solved his problem in less than a minute so could he please shut up.

In addition, they didn't understand why I was grounded. We couldn't tell them about my misdemeanours at Hogwarts so instead, when they asked me, I had to quickly make something up. My lie- that I had gotten into a fight with another boy at boarding school about my Welshness and had broken his nose- was followed by a stunned silence and then disbelieving looks. I might have been a good Wizard but I didn't look like I was capable of breaking Jack's pen, let alone break someone's nose. I was tall but more or less skinny. They said they believed me but when we were alone, my wonderful male muggle cousin turned and attacked me whilst Sharon told him to stop. He managed to get me on the floor and kept telling me to say 'Uncle'. This seemed like a very dumb thing to do so I kept quiet and tried to throw him off. Unfortunately, he was much stronger than I was and only let me up when his father walked into the room.

Sometimes, it wasn't hard to understand why my house mates hated muggles and muggle borns so much.

After that, although I still got on with Sharon who had attempted to stop her brother, talking to Jack became harder and harder. He already thought I was weird and now he thought I was a weakling. More than once I had to stop myself from casting a spell on him. I was even tempted to cast another snake, just to vent some of my frustration. When they left to go back to North Wales I could not help cheering. I thought that I wouldn't be seeing Jack for another year.

But the memory of my defeat at his hands stuck in my mind.

I took the train to Adam's house in the second week. When I arrived, Seifer and Tahir were already there. Adam showed me the room I was going to be sharing with Seifer whilst Tahir and Nick talked about some Quidditch team. Jake arrived whilst I unpacked. I thought it would be a fun week with the chance to gain more spells- Adam's parents often gave him spell books to read and practiced wand movements with him and whilst he had no interest in doing this, I did. More spells meant more power. It was something I needed.

Adam lived by a small village near the sea. The village itself comprised of muggles but the area he lived in was for magical people only. He said that it was weird to go for a walk on the beach and have to dress up as muggles so that they couldn't tell that he was a wizard. We all sympathised with him, especially as we had to wear muggle clothes as well but I was secretly thankful. I had a fondness for wearing my clothes in the holidays. After all, robes seemed too much like school uniform to me so normal muggle clothes were a way of showing that the holidays were there. Nevertheless, I groaned along with the others. There was no point in standing out.

The first few days were fun. We went out around the magical area, played quidditch in a nearby field and wandered around the surrounding area. Sometimes Nick joined us and sometimes their parents took us out.

On the fourth day, Nick and his parents went out to buy something- I didn't catch what- so we were left alone for the day. It was Tahir who suggested the beach.

"We haven't been on it yet Ad. Come on, we should." He pleaded. Adam scowled.

"Yeah, but it's freezing out there. We should just stay here. Have a party." He replied.

"A party? With just five of us?" I sneered. "Yep, great idea Ad. I'm with Tahir. That cliff looks interesting. You said you've never been near it. Now's your chance." The others agreed with me. Adam scowled again.

"Fine, fine. But when we freeze to death, you can blame Tahir and Zac." He muttered unhappily. I looked at Tahir, who grinned back at me. We were going to the beach.

Adam was right. The weather was freezing. We wore thick trousers and jumpers, with scarves and hats and still we were cold. If we had been allowed to use magic, we probably would have conjured some sort of flame but as 'muggles' we had to put up with the cold weather.

The beach seemed pretty unremarkable. It was, more or less, an average beach in winter. Lots of sand, a vicious sea, some people looking as though they sorely wished to be by a fire or radiator and some cliffs. After five minutes we could easily see why Adam had been so unenthusiastic about going there.

Still, we had nothing better to do so we carried on walking around. Eventually, we arrived near the cliffs. By this point, Adam was saying how much better it would be if we went back, Seifer was grumbling under his breath and Jake was wistfully looking back the way we came. Tahir probably would have said something but this whole trip had been his idea so he wasn't exactly in a place to complain. The same went for me. However, as we neared the cliff, I spotted something. A dip in the rock.

"Hey, why don't we check that cave out?" I asked, trying to sound somewhat enthusiastic about my idea. They glared at me.

"Because it will be even colder in there than it is out here?" Jake muttered. I shrugged.

"Gives us something to do though."

"Not really." Adam said. "That cave is forbidden entry. You can't get in. Muggles can't even see it and, when you get closer, you won't see it either."

"Then why can we see it from here?" Tahir asked. Adam appeared to think for a moment. I got the feeling he was enjoying this, the fact that he knew the answers when we did not. But then, what Slytherin wouldn't?

"I'm not too sure. If you go closer, there's a sign for wizards which says entry is forbidden and some old spells have been re-enacted or something. Guess that includes a very patchy illusion." He said. We looked at each other, digesting this information. I don't know if anyone else had my idea but I was the one who voiced it.

"So…let's go check it out." I suggested casually. Adam stared at me.

"Um…Carew, did you miss ALL of what I just said? There's no cave there, so nothing to check out." He said after a silence. I shook my head at him. He was so slow.

"Etasyl, you're so slow mate. You said it yourself. There is a cave there. It's hidden. We just got to find out how to get in." I smirked at him. "Well, I'm going anyway. If you wanna come, then come on. If you're gonna chicken out like Adam, then stay." I started walking towards the cliff. Behind me, the boys considered and then followed me with Adam loudly saying that he wasn't a coward. I couldn't help smiling. Insult his courage and you could make that boy do anything. It was almost too easy.

We soon arrived at the 'cave'. It was near some rocks and, true to Adam's word, there was a sign saying that entry was forbidden and all the original protective spells had been set in place. What these spells were seemed to be unapparent- all I could tell was that they were certainly doing their job well. If it wasn't for the sign and the view from afar, I wouldn't have guessed there was a cave there at all.

After five minutes, even I had to admit that there was nothing there. Kicking the wall had done nothing. Poking it was useless. Swearing was a waste of breath. There was no way to get into that cave.

Well, that's what we thought until Jake climbed the rocks. And slipped.

He was okay mostly, but he caught his arm on a rock and cut it. He came over to us, still holding his bleeding arm and was about to say something when a noise caught our attention. The flat rock face of the 'cave' was suddenly deepening as though someone had suddenly pushed it away. We stared at it in shock and then looked at Jake. His arm was bleeding on a piece of rock right next to the newly formed entrance.

Seifer spoke first. "You don't think…"

"I dunno. Maybe." Tahir replied. We were avoiding mentioning the blood. The idea of using human blood to open the cave just seemed…repulsive, even to us. That's what a lot of people forgot about us. At the end of the day, we were just normal teenagers, not monsters.

"Well…let's go in." I said, falsely cheerful. They looked at me as though I was mad, but I paid them no attention. The way I saw it, we had gone to all that trouble to get the cave open, somehow we had managed it and so there was very little point in backing off. To my relief, I heard them follow me.

The cave was cold and grim, much like the beach, except the beach had a friendly feel to it. The further we walked in, the more I began to wish that I had never brought this idea up. However, when we reached a sealed archway of rock, one look at Adam's face told me that to back out now was to begin a loss of control over them. I couldn't allow that.

I swaggered forward and said "Any volunteers?"

None of them moved. I shrugged, rolled up my sleeve and spotted a rock nearby. Trying not to wince, I dragged my arm over it and watched as red liquid instantly rose up. I winked at the others, hiding my pain and the voice in my head screaming that this was a stupid idea.

As I had suspected, the blood opened the archway. I smirked triumphantly and we walked through, barely talking. Voices did not sound right there. Almost as though if we spoke, we would alert some great demon of the deep to steal our souls.

The deeper in we walked, the damper it became. I began to wonder exactly where the light was coming from. It was a luminous pale green light yet there were no lamps. It was confusing, to say the least.

Soon we reached a lake with a boat.

"Are we going on the boat?" Seifer's voice, the first voice we had heard for a while, was so unexpected that we all jumped and then giggled nervously at each other. The atmosphere of fear lifted for a moment as they all looked at me, smiling shakily. I knew I should have said 'No' and just left it, but this had been my idea. If Seifer was up for it, as he apparently was, then I had to show that I was too. The leader could not be weak.

"Sure. Looks like it'll hold two people at a time so…who wants to go first?" I asked cheerily. They looked around nervously and for a moment I thought that maybe I could get out of it. But then:

"I'll go. It looks fun." I only just managed to stop myself from groaning when Adam said it. There was an odd look in his eyes and for the first time in a while, I wondered whether he actually had forgiven me for cursing him on the first day back. I ignored that thought. He probably hadn't but that wasn't an excuse to back out. I smirked carelessly and told him to get in. I followed him in and waved goodbye to the others. If we found anything, one of could always row back and grab someone else.

We made small talk as we rowed across the lake, mainly to hide our fear. The further across we rowed, the more I regretted ever suggesting this cave. The only upside was that Adam looked like he might have been regretting volunteering to row across too.

After about ten minutes we bumped into something. An island. I looked at Adam who looked back at me.

"I guess we arrived." I said neutrally. Adam smiled weakly.

"Yeah, wherever we are anyway…so, we gonna explore?"

"Uh…yeah." I looked around for the first time at where we had actually arrived. Clearly, observation was not one of our strong points because the island was tiny. Exploration would have taken half a minute at most. In fact, the only mildly interesting aspect about the island was the basin in the middle. We walked over to it. Inside, a clear liquid filled the basin with nothing else present. Balancing on the basin was a goblet. I tried to poke the liquid with my wand but some force field would not let me. I wondered what was so special about this basin.

"Hmm…d'you reckon we use the goblet to empty the basin?" Adam mused. I shrugged.

"Probably, but why would we want to?" I said carelessly. It was his turn to shrug.

"To see what's in there. There must be something. Come on." He sounded oddly eager but I couldn't be bothered to question his sudden wish to be there. Instead I watched as he picked up the goblet and dipped it in the liquid and then spilt it on the floor. He did this a few more times when I noticed something.

"Ad, the liquid's going back."

"Back where?"

"Back in the basin. Emptying it out doesn't work."

Adam checked and realised that I was right. He swore under his breath. "Now what?" He asked. I shrugged.

"We go back." I replied. He considered it for a moment.

"But we don't know what's in there." He said.

"Yes, and we have no way of finding out. In case you were too thick to notice, pouring it out doesn't work." I pointed out.

"You could drink it." He offered to my amazement. I didn't reply, so stupid a suggestion it was, and so he filled the goblet up and offered it to me. When I did not take it, he tried to pour it in my mouth. I ducked and knocked it out of his hand.

"Are you crazy?" I shouted. "What the hell were you thinking?" I was breathing hard. Had he seriously thought it was safe or was he trying to kill me? I couldn't tell and it scared me senseless.

"What?" He muttered sullenly. "I thought we could find out what was in the basin."

I stared at him. "Adam, did Professor Chappell teach you nothing? You DON'T drink strange potions unless you have a death wish." He didn't reply. A sudden rush of anger filled me. Grabbing his jumper in my fist, and moving straight up to him, I snarled "Don't you ever and I mean EVER do something as bleat-brained as that again. You could have killed me you little idiot. I swear to God, if you ever try a stupid stunt like that again, I will do something I will probably regret but you will certainly regret it more. Do you understand me?" He still didn't reply. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" I screamed. He nodded sullenly.

"Yeah, I understand." I didn't let go of his robes until he looked at me. "I'm sorry Zac. I wasn't thinking at all." I nodded curtly and we got back in the boat and rowed to the others. As we rowed, I thought about what had just happened. His apology had sounded sincere, but could I really trust him? Sincere sounding apologies were easy enough to do and for all that he was my friend, friendships in Slytherin were not the same as friendships in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. They were liable to change within a few harsh words and actions. Although I had quite a few friends, there were only three whom I could say that I trusted- Jade and Seifer, to an extent and, oddly enough, Tammy. I had no doubt that Adam would say the same about me.

Eventually, we arrived back where we had left the others. They looked at us curiously but we just said that there had only been a small boring island and whatever had been dangerous once was clearly not anymore. We did not mention the basin or our fight. They believed us.

Jake's arm was still bleeding for some reason, so Seifer suggested using water to clear the cut. Jake didn't really want to, claiming (correctly) that the water would probably be cold. I watched, amused, as my best friend became exasperated and went to the lake to cup some water for him. They had clearly been arguing about this for a while.

And then I wasn't so amused.

The moment that Seifer put his hands in the water, he fell forward. Around his wrist was something white and slimy. He tried to move backwards but another one grabbed him. Sickly, I realised that they were hands. Dead, human hands. I didn't know what to do.

Thankfully, Tahir was quicker off the mark than I was. He instantly moved forward and grabbed Seifer's leg and began to pull. Adam joined him and then Jake and I did. It became a tug of war between us and the dead. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. We had Seifer to lose. It was a life or death situation and, what was worse, we couldn't use magic to resolve it. And Seifer's head was under the water.

After what felt like an eternity, we pulled Seifer free. He had been under the water for a long time we realised. He was pale, eyes closed and barely breathing. His face was a mass of cuts, bites and blood. The top of his clothes had been ripped; he looked like he was on death's door. And the dead bodies were climbing out of the water. This was why the cave had been sealed off.

We looked at each other and then towards the exit. Without a word Tahir swooped to pick Seifer up and we began to run. I didn't know how quickly dead people could run and I didn't want to find out. In fact, I don't think I have ever run quite as quickly as I did that day. Even Tahir, weighed down with Seifer as he was, ran as swiftly as the rest of us.

When we came to the arches, we either scooped some blood from poor Seifer's face or used Jake's arm, cursing the few precious seconds it took to do so. No one wanted to be caught by our hunters. The moment we left the cave was the first feeling of true happiness I had had that day. Somehow, we all knew that the dead bodies would not follow us into the daylight. We all began to cheer. We had survived.

"Oh my God! What's happened to you kids?"

We all looked towards the startled voice. A muggle woman with a dog had said it, her eyes wide with shock. My face matched those eyes. How did she know we had been in trouble? Then I noticed that she was staring at a figure on the ground and realised that she was looking at Seifer. I followed her gaze and instantly felt sick.

Seifer had stopped breathing.


	12. The Boy Within

Disclaimer: Yup, i don't own Harry Potter at all. Not even one tiny electron of it.

Geth342: Okay, i know. 3 weeks is a very long time and i'm sorry. I've been very busy and i was away last week. Still, i hope you'll forgive me especially as the next chapter may take just as long. By the by, in case i didn't explain it well enough, the cave where the boys were in chapter 11 is Voldemort's horcrux cave. And the person in charge of hiding it had some very patchy wandwork going on which is how they found it. Still, i hope you enjoy this and please READ ABD REVIEW!

Chapter 12: The Boy Within

As soon as we walked into Hogwarts, I realised that everyone knew. On the train people had been staring through the compartment door and pointing at us. In the school, they avoided us like the plague and whispered about us to each other. Even our fellow Slytherins were more wary of us than usual. It really started to annoy me. Everything they were saying was nothing more than wild rumours but we couldn't say what had actually happened because we would get in trouble. Despite what had happened to Seifer, we still had to look after ourselves.

Of course, we had all been upset about him after the trip to the cave, especially me. If I had thrown down my authority, if I had acted like a true leader, it would never have happened. But even then I did not let my guard down. If I had, someone would have taken advantage. So I remained in charge even when we visited St. Mungo's.

I lay in bed that first night back, thinking. I couldn't help noticing the fact that the bed next to me was empty. Not just because there was no one in it, but also because there seemed to be no life to it. There were no sounds of Seifer's breathing, no signs of his belongings. If I looked properly out of my hangings, I could see straight to Tahir's bed- although we had decided to leave his bed alone, I couldn't help wishing that we had drawn the curtains around, just to make it feel as if he were there.

It had been the first time I had ever seen St. Mungo's and after those visits, I hoped that I would never have to go there again. Hospital's had never seemed particularly cheerful to me and this one was no exception. All around us were moaning people, all ill with something, or weeping family and friends. Pictures on the wall diagnosed us with random illnesses to the point that Jake tried to take one down out of annoyance, successfully earning a disapproving look off a nearby healer.

On the upside however, after two days, Seifer woke up. He told us when we went to visit him later that the last thing he remembered was being attacked by something slimy underwater and so, when he did wake up, he assumed he was still in the lake and had begun to try and swim, even though his limbs were still sluggish from sleep. Despite the fact that no one had been in the room, this had alerted a passing visitor who had been convinced that Seifer was having a seizure. I had to smile as he said that- nothing normal ever seemed to happen to him.

What was curious, perhaps, was that I knew his family had visited but when I asked Seifer what his parents had thought about him being in hospital, he had merely grunted and muttered something under his breath. When I pressed he just said that they had been upset. In addition, when we had inspected his get well soon cards, just as I was about to open the first, a card with a teddy bear on the front (as opposed to Quidditch ones from everyone else) he suddenly snapped that he disliked people reading his cards. I could not help but feel that there was a different reason for us not to read them but I decided not to press. Seifer clearly had a secret and if I were to discover it, I would need to prise it out of him slowly- amass the facts for myself. It was a hard game but one I was very good at. I knew that eventually, I would know what Seifer hid from us. It was only a matter of time.

Seifer was still ill from the adventure- something in the water and the bites of the dead bodies which I now knew were called Inferi- and so we had arrived at Hogwarts without him. As I lay in my bed thinking, I hoped that he would be back soon. I needed all the people I could trust with me.

Of course by the next day, Seifer had not returned and so breakfast was a sombre affair for us. Jade tried to cheer me up but it didn't work and finally, when she told me some stupid joke about a hag walking into a bar, I snapped at her and told her to shut up. She glared at me and would not speak to me for the rest of the morning. Nor would Zoë, Florrie and, strangely, Jake. Normally I would have been bothered but on that day, considering that half the school was muttering wild rumours about us, I felt that a more important thing to focus on was the organisation. During my midnight planning, I had decided that we needed to step it all up a notch and so, just before I went to Herbology I quickly told the seventh years to tell the sixth years to try and get whichever house they were with for their first lesson in trouble. After my third lesson, Transfiguration, I told some first years to team up with the second year boys and to trap any first or second year in any room or cupboard they could think of. It was the first time I had ever gotten two events to occur so close to each other but I felt the risk was worth it. The school needed to learn that they couldn't disrespect us.

At Lunchtime, I received word that both tasks had been done and only one person, a first year, had been caught. The first year had been caught by a moody Professor Quake who had then taken twenty points off Slytherin and, when the first year had not said who had helped her, had given her a detention. I felt it only a mere casualty. I swiftly made sure that a group of fourth years would begin to spread rumours about a fourth year Gryffindor. During all this time, I barely spoke to Jade.

My last lesson of the day was Charms. At the end of the lesson he asked everyone who had gotten in trouble to stay back. As Travis and Nat left, smirking arrogantly, I had to stop myself from cursing them horribly. I hated it when the Hufflepuffs felt that we were beneath them. Evidently, they still needed to learn a lesson. I would need to plan some more.

Quake began to assign us our detentions for the first week. Adam and Zoë were in the Hospital Wing, Jake was working for Patil in the tower, Tahir, Angela and Tanya were to help out in the Greenhouses and Florrie and Jade were to be doing filing in the dungeons. He had gotten to Tammy when he realised something.

"Where is Langtree?" He demanded. We looked at each other. "Answer me!"

"St. Mungo's." Tahir finally muttered. "He had an accident a few days ago." Once more, all the girls stared at us with curiosity as we avoided their eyes. Quake sighed, annoyed.

"Fine. In that case Carew, you will take Langtree's detention and he will have yours when he returns. Carew, Rowland, you will be doing some work for the Gamekeeper along with two younger students. I trust you will not attempt to kill each other or I will see to it personally that both of you never have another free Saturday. Understood?" I pretended to glare at Tammy and she glared right back, which astounded me a bit. I thought she would have forgiven me for whatever I had done but apparently not. I shrugged.

"Understood…sir." I spat out.

"Yes Professor," Tammy muttered rebelliously. I glanced at her and I could have sworn that she was really annoyed at me. And I still could not figure out why- that dance had been ages ago and it was her fault for owning up to the explosion anyway. If she hadn't wanted to get in trouble then she should have gotten morals some other time.

Sometimes, I can be really stupid.

He gave us the rest of the details of our detention and then dismissed everyone. My detention was to take place the next evening at eight o'clock. Vaguely, I wondered why Quake had wanted Seifer to do this detention. Did it mean that instead of giving them out randomly, like I thought he had, he had actually picked them specifically for what we were like? But then, why had he changed it so easily? It confused me but there seemed to be no point in dwelling on it so I turned my attention back to my friends. For the first time since that morning, I spoke to Jade. I did not apologise but I did give off the air of being sorry which seemed to pacify her. Inwardly I smirked. Some people were too easy to manipulate.

Before I went to bed, I convinced some seventh years to curse Travis with something horrible. It was at this point that Tahir suggested that I maybe tone it down a bit. I glared at him but he did not back down so eventually I muttered a 'maybe' and went to bed. I didn't know why but I wanted the plan to intensify. No, not wanted…I needed it to.

The next day passed in a similar manner. I set more and more plans up but I made sure the timing was more careful. I didn't want my Slytherins in detention- people would fight back if they knew who it was. I did find myself worrying a bit when a third year said that she had heard Professors Ramik and Longbottom talking about the sudden increase in pranks but it didn't deter me too much. It just needed to be more subtle.

In my opinion, eight o'clock came far too quickly. I had barely finished talking to my friends (apart from Jake who had left for his detention an hour before) when Jade was gently reminding me that I had to go to the main foyer to meet my fellow 'criminals'. Not for the first time, I wished that I had never started saying that spell so quickly even if I may not have been the one who set the explosion off.

I arrived in the main foyer feeling more than a little annoyed. So when Kali turned up and started pestering me, I did not exactly respond with good grace.

"Look, go back to the Common Room. I'm busy!" I snapped. She looked hurt but I wasn't in the mood to look apologetic.

"But, but, but," she sniffled, "I was told to meet you here."

"By who?" I asked. Whoever had sent her was going to pay harshly.

"By Quake. He said that for my detention I had to go to the main foyer now and that you and two other students would be here and that I'd be working with the Gamekeeper." She mumbled quickly, almost embarrassed. I vaguely wondered why when it suddenly hit me.

"It was you!" I exclaimed, causing one or two other students to turn around in surprise. I lowered my voice. "You're the one who got caught by Quake for shoving someone in a cupboard." She nodded proudly. For the first time, I grinned. "Well then, that's a different story. Don't be embarrassed Kali, you did some good work. This just proves that you are…you are….you are a freedom fighter. Wear your colours with pride but don't keep getting caught, okay?" I chuckled. She nodded happily, pleased that I wasn't mad anymore. We stood together for a few more minutes, waiting for Tammy and the mystery student, talking about our chances at the House Cup this year. Kali really wanted to win but I warned her not to get her hopes too high. Slytherin had not won for twelve years and this year didn't seem particularly likely to break that streak. It was a shameful thing for us but not entirely shocking. Who rewards the 'spawn of Death Eaters' after all?

A boy walked into me, making me turn around angrily and tell the person to watch where they were going. The bumper, a small Ravenclaw boy with jet black hair stammered an apology. I told him not to do it again and turned back to Kali. I asked her whether she thought Ravenclaw could beat Gryffindor in the Quidditch matches but her reply made no sense.

"Ackley!" She exclaimed.

I stared at her. "That's not a reply" I said carefully. She shook her head at me.

"Simon Ackley," she said angrily, looking around me, "Go away. Just because we didn't beat you up or anything doesn't mean you can listen to us."

I spun around to see who she was talking to and found that the Ravenclaw was still there. I looked at him questioningly and he blushed.

"I-I-I was t-t-told to come here by Professor Quake. He said you-you would b-be here Thalos." He closed his eyes as though waiting for us to hit him. When he did not fall unconscious, he opened one eye tentatively.

"Boo." I muttered. He jumped, nervous. I sniggered at his reaction, enjoying myself until a certain voice rang from behind me.

"That's friendly isn't it Carew? What, you have nothing better to do than pick on first years?" Tammy snapped. I rolled my eyes and turned to look at her.

"Look Rowland, I'm not picking on the kid. Is it my fault that Ravenclaws are so cowardly they get scared when people say 'boo'? Or is it universal?" I couldn't help sounding annoyed- I still wasn't sure what I had done to offend her and now it was starting to get irritating. The boy, Simon Ackley, blushed again as Kali sniggered appreciatively behind me. Tammy opened her mouth to reply but before she could, the Gamekeeper appeared behind her, stopping any further arguments.

We soon found out what our detention was. We were taken into the Forbidden Forest, apparently not forbidden to us, and put in pairs- Tammy with Kali and me with Ackley. We were to find a certain root which someone or other needed. When I ventured to ask whether it was dangerous to put four underage students in a forest by themselves, I received such scathing looks from Tammy and Ackley that I decided to remain silent. The Gamekeeper then went on to explain that we were to be very careful and the moment we spotted any trouble we were to send sparks up into the air and he would come and rescue us. I didn't feel any more reassured but supposed that if I was in any real danger, Ackley could go instead of me.

Clearly, the Gamekeeper was not a clever man.

We set off somewhat nervously in three different directions- we went to the left, Tammy and Kali went to the right and the Gamekeeper went straight ahead. We walked for fifteen minutes and during this time, I did not say a word to the Ravenclaw although I could not help sneering at how scared he was becoming- surely I had never been that cowardly as a first year. Nevertheless, I also found myself becoming more and more nervous especially as that damn root was nowhere in sight and so, when he screamed, I jumped, shouting loudly.

"What's wrong?" I shouted, turning around with my wand at the ready. What I saw made me want to hex the kid. All that had happened was that he had fallen over a tree root and panicked. I sighed, called him an idiot and told him to get up to which he actually responded.

"I can't."

I looked at him. "What do you mean you can't?" I demanded. He looked down at the ground.

"I can't stand up." He mumbled.

"Why not?" I asked, exasperated.

"I've hurt my ankle on that root. I-I think I sprained it."

"You should have been watching where you were going." I said, well and truly annoyed. How on earth did this boy get into Ravenclaw?

His reply was unexpected. "Sorry Mr. Carew," he said sadly. "I-I'm afraid of the dark. I've been trying to think of s-something nice and I wasn't c-concentrating. I'm really sorry." And he began to cry.

I stared at him. Now what? I didn't know how to deal with a crying person- I had made people cry before but never had to stop them from crying. And ruthless though I was, even I wasn't mean enough to tease him. Instead I crouched down by him.

"'S all right," I muttered gruffly, "Here, don't cry. Let me give you a hand and then I'll protect you, okay? There's nothing in this dark that's gonna hurt you, as long as you stick with me." I stood up and extended my hand. He took it, still sniffling and thanked me. It was my turn to blush as I gruffly told him to lean on me. He did so and we walked on in an even more embarrassed silence.

We had barely moved fifty steps when someone jumped in front of us, yelling. Simon screamed and buried his head in my robe, making aiming my wand very difficult. Still, I managed it and soon our attacker was frozen.

"I told you not to do that," a familiar voice said to the left of our attacker. I stared at the speaker.

"Kali? What the hell were you two thinking?" I asked. Simon still had not moved so I gently levered him from myself. "Simon, it's alright. It's just Kali and Rowland acting like complete and utter morons. Rowland's frozen so you're not going to die, alright?" I glared at Kali as I checked that my charge had not died of fright or anything. Thankfully he hadn't and soon he was joining in with glaring at the other two. Kali, however, looked unapologetic

"It wasn't my fault." She said stubbornly.

I snorted. "Yeah? Well, I didn't spot any other idiots trying to give us heart attacks."

Kali was still unrepentant. "It wasn't my fault." She repeated. I shook my head. She really was a Slytherin- deny it until you succeed- a common enough rule.

"We thought it was a flipping werewolf or something. Who the hell jumps out of a bush in the night in a forest?" I snapped. Kali shrugged.

"I didn't know there were werewolves here. Anyway, I'm not saying that Rowland didn't jump out at you; I'm saying that I told her not to. I said we should find the easier path to rescue you two but no, she wanted to be heroic." She looked at the frozen figure next to her and I realised with a jump that I had actually forgotten that I had cursed her. Trying to look apologetic, I mumbled the counter curse and unfroze her. Surprisingly, she made a rude gesture at me. Surprising because I had never seen her talk rudely to anyone for longer than ten seconds. I bound her legs.

"Now that really isn't nice Rowland," I said easily, "You're the one who jumped out at us. You nearly killed poor Simon here. So, care to explain why?"

She swore again and then spoke. "We thought you were in danger so I thought we should rescue you. God knows why Carew, you're as arrogant, pig headed, stu-"

"Shut up!" This was Simon, speaking for the first time in a while. He had been so quiet I had begun to suspect that he was asleep. He was glaring at Tammy with a scarily fierce look. "You were the ones who jumped out at us. Mr. Carew-"

"Zac." I interjected.

"-Zac was trying to save us and you're insulting him. That's not even fair." Tammy blushed as Kali nodded somewhat wisely. I didn't say anything- I merely lifted the spell and watched as she fell over. Picking herself up, she looked at me.

"Sorry…Zac." She mumbled. She looked around. "Have you guys had any luck finding that root? I swear there's nothing like it in this forest." I looked around as well and shook my head. Kali voiced the thought we all had.

"Let's look together." She said, ever forthright. I shrugged and set off, Simon still leaning on me. Tammy and Kali followed behind me. Somehow, I felt safer in a big group although what we could do against magical creatures was still a mystery. Nevertheless, it was definitely less scary and within twenty minutes, we found the root growing near a stream. It was with large grins on our faces that we began to head back to the entrance.

This of course was when we realised that we were lost. We all tried to head off in different directions and then started shouting at each other, each convinced that we were right. Then, to add insult to injury a storm began, causing us to become even angrier with each other. As if this was not enough, just as it looked as though we were going to disobey Quake's orders not to kill each other after all, a loud howl roared over the thunder, silencing us all. We looked around nervously. Simon began to cry.

"Shut up crybaby!" Kali snapped nervously.

Simon did not stop crying. Tammy decided to defend him by telling Kali to shut up and be more sympathetic. The first year responded with some frankly shocking language that I was sure I had not known at the age of eleven. It looked as though we were going to be spending more time yelling and less time leaving. It was time for me to take charge.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP! NOW!" I screamed at the top of my voice. They stopped and stared at me. Before they could go back to arguing, I continued, speaking briskly. "Okay, Kali stop teasing Simon, he's scared and yelling at him won't help. Tammy, yelling at us is just going to get us in more trouble. Simon, crying only makes it worse and attracts attention. Everyone, we're going to send off sparks and then start moving…this way. Every minute, we'll send off more sparks. Eventually that big idiot will find us. Any arguments?"

No one had any arguments. We started off walking calmly, taking it in turns to send off sparks. Soon we ran, for fear of the unknown creature. Every time someone tried to argue about something, I cast a silencing charm on them for two minutes unless they had a valid point. I also kept up a stream of encouraging talk. Even so, it looked as though we were going to be stuck in the forest forever, something which did not exactly appeal to me. Eventually, we had to stop to catch our breath.

"D…d'you think….we'll ever….get out…of this forest…alive?" Kali panted. I glared at her. What a stupid thing to say.

"Yes of course we will." I replied angrily. "Otherwise why would we be running? Look, maybe we can get that stupid Gamekeeper fired for this. We've just got to keep going and we'll make it. Everyone ready?" I asked. I spotted Tammy cast me an admiring glance and open her mouth to say something but I set off before she could. She needed to save her breath.

It was ten more minutes before that idiot of a Gamekeeper finally found us- soaking, scared, shivering, sobbing in Simon's case and on the verge of passing out. In fact, Kali did faint a little while after he found us. None of us had realised that she had asthma, not very serious but enough that running wildly through the forest had done her no favours. The Gamekeeper carried her as Simon leaned on me and so we left in silence. When we did finally exit that cursed forest, the two first years went with the Gamekeeper to the Hospital Wing in order to recover from their various ordeals. As we parted, I gave the Ravenclaw a gruff pat on the shoulder and told him that he'd done really well in the forest. Then I walked off before anyone could see my blushing face. Being nice to people was not something I was good at.

There were footsteps on the wet grass behind me. I ignored them, still trying to destroy the weakness inside me. Why had I been nice to the boy? He was a Ravenclaw, against us and everything we stood for. Yet he stood up for me against Tammy. Why? Why, why, why, why, why? That was the only thing rolling around in my mind. Suddenly, I felt angry- angry at Simon for making me appear weak. Angry at Quake for making me pity him instead of hate him. Angry at Kali for showing me how a true Slytherin should act. Angry at Ta-

"That was a nice thing you did." The girl herself had appeared alongside me and was smiling at me through the rain. I looked at her. And then I looked at her properly. The water dripping off her hair and nose seemed cute, vanishing all the anger and hatred I had felt towards her just a second before. And she was pretty- more so than I had ever realised. I shook my head. Where had _that _come from?

"Uh…yeah…"I mumbled for lack of anything coherent to say. Thankfully she didn't seem to hear me.

"I don't get it." She said thoughtfully. I looked at her again, trying not to stare at her face. Her right arm suddenly became very interesting to me as I replied.

"Get what?" She shrugged and we carried on walking into the building in silence. I repeated my question.

This time she replied. "I don't get why you can't always be like that. Why you're never like the Zac I met on the first day." She blushed, her face as red as her hair, as she turned and fled. I stared after her, gobsmacked.


	13. Encounters of a Violent Kind

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form. Nor do i own Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Balckman which i have to admit is where i got the last thing Zac says from.

Geth342- Okay, confession time. This chapter was supposed to be longer and as i decided to split it up into two, this one is quite bad. However, my theory is 1) It's possible that if i had written the whole thing, it may have gone over 5000 words which is a bit harsh to ask anyone to read. So now it's about 3000 instead.

2) Updates are going to get harder- after the holidays are over i will have less time to update due to other work so i figured i'd get at least one more chapter up.

Anyway, as a sort of sorry present, i will tell you that in the next chapter, the gender of Zac's sibling will be revealed. And, as an extra bit of info, the name of the baby is the original name of Zac's character (who i wrote half of the first chapter as) Anyway, i hope you enjoy and please read and review. And if you've got me on alert or favourite do me a favour and review at least once even if just to say 'i don't know why i put you on alert/fave/both this is rubbish' Thanks

Chapter 13: Encounters of a Violent Kind

Seifer returned to us at the end of the week. Typical Seifer, he walked into the common room, sporting a rather impressive scar on his forehead and shouted

"Hello my ducks, Harry Potter has come to you in an improved form. Did you miss me?" This was met by much turning of heads and laughter from people as they saw him. As always, Seifer was in a good mood. There didn't seem to be much that could get that boy upset. We smiled and walked over to him.

"You're back I see." I said cheerily. He nodded. Tahir joined in.

"So…Harry Potter hmm? Do we have to start worshipping you now or will later do?" He asked. We all laughed.

Seifer grinned. "What do you mean 'start'?" He demanded. "I thought you worshipped me already!" He sat down, still clasping hands with anyone who came over and waving to people who were looking at us.

"Please, worship you?" A voice said, causing more hilarity. Other people joined in.

"As if!"

"Langtree, you're so full of it."

"We got all the Weasley relations to worship and whoever else."

"Remind us why you had to return?"

Seifer took it all with his usual joking manner. He clapped a hand to his brow and said in mock despair, "How could you all say that? Everything I believed is a lie. Now…now I'll have to go to St. Mungo's again. I…I need a moment alone." He then broke down in fake sobbing which did not work out well for him because he couldn't stop laughing at the same time. I laughed along with everyone else. My best friend had returned.

At least, that's what I assumed. What I didn't notice, in my arrogance perhaps, is that throughout the next few weeks, something had happened to him to make him watch me more carefully than usual. He didn't betray me, but as events unfolded it was clear that there was something he had noticed about me. Something he didn't like. Perhaps it was the mark of a true friend that he told me what was going on rather than plot behind my back. Or maybe he was trying to unseat me. I like to think it was the former.

We served the rest of our detentions. Seifer received my original one which was merely to polish some trophies in the trophy room. I could not help but wonder why Quake had wanted me to do that as opposed to a little adventure in the forest but it wasn't a particularly interesting question and so I did not ponder on it for long. Besides I had more pressing things- the plan.

Despite my thoughts to make it more subtle, the amount of pranks being pulled were increasing by the day. Everywhere I had walked before, people had glared at me. If I accidently stumbled into someone, rather than waiting for me to give an apology (which, when absent minded, I probably would have, rudeness being one of the things I cannot do when thinking of other things) they would snarl 'watch where you're going Carew' or, if they were younger than me, wait for an older kid to tell me to apologise. And then they would get annoyed when I responded in a fashion not fit for many members of the student population. Barely anything had changed within five years and I was getting sick of it. It was time for people to learn what happened when they crossed us.

Seifer, of course, had no idea that I had already started intensifying everything- he only discovered it when I ordered three separate attacks- one for each house- to occur with five minute ranges of each other. After watching me ensure that it would be done, he opened his mouth to say something. I looked at him, curious, but he merely closed his mouth, raised one eyebrow and went back to doing his Herbology homework. I was about to ask him what was bothering him when Reaver came up to me to tell me about the last act and it was forgotten.

At least, by me.

Two weeks passed by quickly. In this time, students became more and more wary of us. People began to talk about what was going on. And the detention rate for Slytherins nearly doubled.

In addition, I was becoming more and more obsessed. I barely spoke to Jade anymore. If she did bother me, I would snap at her and maybe make it up to her later. It wasn't that I particularly wanted to hurt her-I still liked her- it was more that I didn't have time for her. In other words, I was starting to forget that I had a life outside of myself.

And at first, nothing changed. On a cold Friday afternoon, as I wandered through the castle alone - scouting out new places for traps (no one else wanted to come because it was too cold) - I heard a boy whimper and cruel laughter follow it. Without thinking about why I was going, I headed towards the source of the noise. It was probably some of my Slytherins anyway so going was not putting me in an uncompromising position. Or so I thought. Right up until I actually walked into the corridor.

It wasn't my Slytherins. I had walked not into a scene which I could easily ignore but which made me stop. Two seventh year Ravenclaws- a boy with brown hair and another with a buzz cut- were kicking a small figure on the ground and sneering at it. I moved closer, as quietly as I could to find out _why_ the 'peaceful' students had suddenly decided to become the bullies in the school. Hiding behind a nearby (handily placed) statue, I listened.

"What d'you have to say now Ackley?" One voice sneered. My eyes widened. Wasn't that Simon's surname?

"N-nothing." The figure whimpered back. Another thud and then-

"Carew is scum, you hear? Whatever you think he did wasn't what he did. Being nice to you is a way to hurt us. You've got a lot of explaining to do." This was the second voice.

Apparently Simon wasn't having any of it. "I have nothing to explain." He said coldly. I had to admire him- he was standing up for himself and he must have been terrified. Maybe he had learnt something that night in the Forest. Or maybe he was just stupid- every contradiction earned him another kick. I was surprised he wasn't unconscious already. Finally, I felt I had to intervene if only to stop the idiot from being killed and having the blame land at my feet.

"Here, and I always thought you smart types were meant to be friendly people. Seems I was wrong, doesn't it?" I called as I swaggered forward. The two bullies turned around, surprised, and glared at me.

"Back off Carew. This has nothing to do with you." The brown haired boy snarled. His friend nodded. I smiled.

"Apparently, it does. I heard you mentioning me and not in a nice way either. I thought you blood traitors were above insulting us." Calling someone a blood traitor always felt strange to me because I wasn't exactly better than them. Nevertheless it seemed to have an effect on them. They turned an interesting colour for one thing.

Buzz cut boy spluttered angrily. "You watch your mouth Carew." He spat out.

I shrugged. "Why? It's not going anywhere." I said this easily with far more confidence than I felt. It had suddenly occurred to me that I was getting myself in too much trouble. If I started to fight, word would get around. I needed an easier solution with minimal trouble.

The Ravenclaws didn't seem to share my view- they moved towards me menacingly. I tried not to back away as brown hair said "You know what we mean. We don't appreciate that kind of language in front of children." He used polite language but the gesture he was giving me with his hand was anything but. I looked towards Simon.

"You mean the child you've beaten up?" I queried. They looked back, startled. I smirked- I could use this to my advantage. "Well, I guess I'll go and tell Professor Chapell…or Professor Neclor. Maybe even Professor Trent. After all, bullying isn't accepted in the school, is it boys?"

"You wouldn't…" Breathed one of the boys.

"Why shouldn't I?" I challenged. "Violent mudbloods like you have to be expelled for our safety." I was provoking them deliberately. And it worked. I didn't even know if they were muggle borns or not.

"If you do, we'll beat you up too." Buzz cut boy threatened. I shrugged.

"The governors will have a fit when they see how I've been treated. Especially after I tried so _heroically_ to save poor Ackley over there." I said casually. They looked at each other, my words clearly getting through their thick skulls. I began to smile again. It looked as though I was going to get out of there free.

The next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling and a concerned, bruised and bleeding Simon. That kid really didn't have much luck. Then again, considering that I was the one lying on the floor and feeling as though everyone in Hogwarts had walked on my face, I couldn't really talk. I pushed myself up.

"Waappuh?" I slurred.

"Um…what?" Simon was understandably confused. I tried again, this time speaking slowly and carefully.

"Wha- what happened?" I asked.

"Well…you got knocked out." Simon replied helpfully. I glared at him.

"Yes, I noticed. Care to explain exactly how I got knocked out?" He opened his mouth but I interrupted him. "Just tell me exactly what happened from when those two started beating you up to now."

"I-I…they…my friends wanted to know how the detention went and I told them what happened." He began nervously. I said nothing and so he continued, slightly braver. "And then everyone was saying how you…you couldn't have helped me because you're an evil, arrogant little ba-"

"I get it." I interrupted drily before he had a chance to go through every insult people gave me. We would have been there all day if I had let him. He smiled ruefully and continued.

"Yeah well, I said you weren't and that you were actually quite nice and they, uh, didn't believe me." He bowed his head, embarrassed. "So I kept trying to convince them and then now, Alwyn and Yoru caught up with me and told me to tell the truth. So I kept sticking up for you and they called me some horrible things and started beating me up. Then you showed up and after you threatened to grass, Alwyn kind of panicked and punched you in the mouth and you fell backwards and hit your head. They ran off and you woke up about two minutes later." He looked at me meekly. I started to sit up even more but the world span around me so I decided to stay in my original position.

"That was nice of you." I commented at last. "Stupid, but nice. My thanks."

Simon shrugged, wincing as he did so. "It was no trouble. I owed you…hey, what do you mean by stupid?" He had only just noticed. I laughed.

"You would have saved yourself a beating if you'd just agreed."

"Yeah but then I would have been lying."

"So what?" I asked. He shook his head pityingly at me and helped me up. He then suggested that I head to the Hospital Wing. I pointed out that all I had was a bruised face- he had a bruised everything so surely he should go. We set off together, me walking slightly behind him. I told him it was so that his house mates wouldn't find more reasons to beat him up- he didn't need to know that I didn't want my Slytherins to see me in his company. And whilst we walked, I thought. Why did Simon pity me? What did he have that I did not? After all, I had friends, power, a beautiful girlfriend, I was a talented wizard and I was set to make Hogwarts a better place. The only bad thing happening was that the two Ravendorks would tell people about how they knocked me out but I would find a solution. Everything about me was good. If anything, _I_ should have pitied _him_.

And yet, I did not.

We arrived at the Hospital Wing in silence. I stopped to let Simon go in and so let me leave. However, my new Ravenclaw 'friend' waited for me to come in with him. After a minute of silent, furious miming between us I finally agreed to come in with him and have my pounding head seen to. Arguing just made it worse.

Once inside, I made sure that it looked as though we had arrived at the same time by coincidence. Mrs Fry quickly healed my teeth (which had been cracked) and took my headache away. I waited outside the infirmary for Simon as she healed him. I had a plan. Perhaps one of my better ones.

As soon as he came out I asked him if he was alright. He looked at me strangely.

"Yes…that's what they do in the Hospital Wing." He paused and said, slightly more worried, "Um, it is- it is safe in there isn't it? I mean, she's qualified right? Because-"

"Yes she is." I interrupted. "Quit worrying." He really was a nervous fellow. "I just wanted to check. And also…well I have an idea."

"An idea?"

"Yep. Follow me and I'll tell you." I began to head off to the Room of Requirement. What was once a secret place was now commonly used by students: the great hero Neville Longbottom had made sure of that. And teachers had never been more frustrated.

As we arrived outside the room I told him to watch as I paced past the seemingly blank wall. I had wondered how to phrase my thoughts to get the room I wanted- I needed somewhere that didn't seem too imposing, that would allow me to have a friendly chat with the boy and show the idea that we were fighting for the good of everyone. But I also needed it to be serious. In the end, I just thought those thoughts over and over until a door appeared. Simon gasped but otherwise remained silent as we walked in.

Once inside, I found that the room had made itself directly to my orders. The four house flags were hanging from the ceiling. The fire in the middle of the right wall was emerald green, just like the one in the common room. There were some books in one corner and two comfortable chairs in the middle of the room, just in front of the fire. We sat down in them.

"So, erm, what's your idea Zac?" As usual, he was nervous. I smiled comfortingly at him.

"Simple. Those two…what did you say their names were…Yoru and Alwyn? Yeah? Right, well why don't you get them back?"

"Get them back?" Simon echoed.

"Yeah. Get revenge on them. I mean they beat you up for telling the truth. They knocked me out for trying to help you. Not exactly Ravenclaw like is it? And these guys are meant to help first years, not kill them."

"But that would make me as bad as them."

"No it wouldn't," I contradicted, "it would show them that you weren't to be messed with."

"Yeah but then they wouldn't talk to me. They would start thinking I was like you."

"Thanks." I said dryly. Simon flinched.

"Not like you yourself." He said quickly. "I meant like what they think you're like…if that made any sense."

"It did."

"Oh good. Anyway, it's like, you know, they'll start calling me a Slytherin and stuff." He blushed as he realised what he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "And there's something wrong with being a Slytherin because?" I let the question hang.

"N-nothing," Simon stuttered, "it's just, like, well, uh…people always say Slytherins are horrible and Death Eaters and stuff."

I tried not to smile. Now I could press my point home. "And that means it's true, does it?" He shook his head. "Exactly. That's why we're fighting for something better."

"Something…better?" He was confused. I smiled.

"Yeah. Why should a person from Hufflepuff be given a chance to speak when something goes wrong but a person from Slytherin instantly receive detention? Why should everyone rush to defend a Gryffindor if they receive a small scratch on their arm but threaten a Slytherin who's bruised all over?" I paused before adding my final point. I was really warming to my theme. "And why should a Ravenclaw be attacked by his own house mates, just because he discovered that Slytherins aren't that bad after all?"

That made him think. "I guess," he said after a pause, "they shouldn't. But what can you do about it?"

"Well, if people want to treat us badly then we'll do the same to them. Fightswords with swords. If they left us alone, we'd leave them alone. For example, did I harm you in the Forest?"

"No…"

"And did I or did I not only attack Tammy after she jumped out and only in self defence?"

"That's right…"

"So isn't it fair to say that I only harm someone after they harm me?"

"I guess…but why are you telling me this anyway?" The boy was quite sharp. He had noticed my ploy. "Surely it's a Slytherin thing only?"

"Nope." I said cheerily. "Loads of the Slytherins want it to be but me and many others, including the leader think other houses should get involved. Granted very few people do but still…so whaddya say? Yes or no?" I watched him eagerly.

He thought for a moment. "I- I dunno."

"Think it over," I advised, "and tell me later." I gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder and headed towards the door. Just as I was about to open it, his voice caught me.

"Zac…I'm in."

I turned around. "Excellent. I'll tell the leader and see what she says. And Simon?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome to the lifebroom party, mate."

And I left.


	14. The Careers Interview

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form. I only own my characters and the plot.

Geth342: Hey hey, a quick update and the second half of chapter 14. After this, updates will be slower. Oh and by the by...CAN SOMEONE PLEASE REVIEW? See, there appear to be at least 5 people reading this story yet i get at most 2 reviews :( I can tell you that reviews do inspire me to update quickly- one of the reasons my J&H story is on hiatus is because i lost inspiration due to lack of readers and reviewers (although that probably won't happen here). To my 2 reviewers, you are both awesome :)

And yes, i know that in OotP, the careers interview isn't until around April or so but i don't see why it can't be in January.

Anyway, i hope you enjoy, please read and review. Thanks.

Chapter 14: The Careers Interview.

Of course, as soon as I got back to the common room, I had to warn everyone about Simon. I did this by walking into the common room and standing on a table to get everyone's attention. Once they were all looking at me, I explained that the Ravenclaw was not to be touched and that no one nearby where he was should be either. In addition, when he was alone it would be a good idea to be friendly to him. This was met with many grumbles but I quickly told them what good a spy could do for us to which no one had much argument. At least, no argument that they could voice without suffering the consequences. As the days passed, my punishments had become worse and worse.

I finished with a description of what he looked like and told them to ask the First years if they were unsure. After answering questions from people (a lot of which were 'Why do we need a spy again?') I walked around to where Seifer, Jade and Jake were. I smiled at the two boys and gave Jade a peck on the lips. It might have been my imagination but I could have sworn that she moved back slightly, almost in revulsion. And for a moment, I thought I saw fear in her eyes- but when I blinked it had gone and I didn't want to ask her about it. Instead I sat down and put my arm around her. Again she seemed to flinch but before I could ask, Seifer looked at me.

"Achilles arrived earlier. Don't ask me how he got in here I don't know, but he left a letter for you." Seifer said. He held out the letter, in its envelope. Thankfully my parents had stopped writing addresses and putting stamps on it. I grabbed it and pretended to be disgusted.

"An envelope?" I asked, wrinkling my face. "When will they learn that the muggles bring nothing but trouble? Honestly." I turned to Seifer. "Did you read it?"

"Of course not." Seifer replied. I narrowed my eyes, wondering if he was lying. If he was, well, there wasn't much I could do about it. Maybe wipe their memories later. But for now I needed to read the letter. I looked at the others.

"I need to see what this is about. If you'll excuse me." I considered giving Jade another kiss but considering her reactions I decided against it. Even if I was imagining it, it was easier not to bother. However, just as I got up, Seifer coughed. I looked back at him.

"Hey Zac," he said nervously, "you shouldn't be too harsh on your parents. I mean, if you got out of those thoughts, they can too. You just gotta….educate them. Y'know because they're the ones who look after you and…" His voice trailed away. I was not the only one staring at him in astonishment.

"Right," I said after a moment, "I'll be sure to remember that." I turned back again.

"Wait," Jake called. I turned around. Any more turning and I'd fall over from dizziness. Jake looked embarrassed as he spoke. "Seifer's right. You should appreciate people who love you. Treat 'em right, y'know…" His voice also trailed away as catcalls started. I raised my eyebrow.

"Sure…I'll, uh bear it in mind. You guys haven't been hit on the head in Quidditch have you? Well, I need to go read so see ya." I turned away, wondering why those two had gotten so soppy. Especially Jake- Seifer was touchy about parents but Jake never took anything seriously.

As I said, I can be really stupid sometimes.

I sat down on my bed, pulled the drapes around and ripped open the envelope. Lying back on my pillows, I began to read.

_Annwyl Zac,_

_Sorry for not sending this with the morning post or with any money but we wanted to tell you the news. Exciting news!_

_Well, mum went for a scan yesterday and we decided that we would like to know the identity of the baby after all. So we asked. And you're having a brother Zac._

I looked up for a moment. A brother. Chad. Chad Carew. I sighed. It was a pity that the name I had sent wouldn't be used. I carried on reading.

_We know you'll be excited and maybe a bit disappointed. But having a sister won't be too bad for you. Besides, you did pick her name. Little Holly. You'll have to tell us how you picked it at some point. We'll definitely tell her that it was you who picked it. _

I looked up again in confusion and then reread the paragraph_. _Little Holly? So I was actually getting a sister? I reread the letter and suddenly noticed that there was a stain in front of the word 'brother', presumably covering the word 'not'.

_Holly is due in late May or early June. I know you have exams around then but please, come and visit at some point just to greet her. I'm sure the school won't mind you having a weekend here or something. Reply soon._

_Hope you're well._

_Love Mam a Tad._

I put the letter down, altered it and stashed it in my trunk. Getting out of school to see my sister. Not a bad idea, except I would probably be off then anyway- we usually got a few weeks off after the OWLS as a reward. Then again, I supposed that I needed to greet my new born sibling at some point and the school wasn't likely to fall down the moment I left. I'd have to ask Chappell about it though, which meant I couldn't reply yet so instead I went back to the common room. Seifer, Jake and Jade had been joined by Zoë and Tahir. I walked over to them, interrupting their discussion.

"Hey." I said as I sat down.

"Hey." They mumbled. Seifer smiled.

"So, did you get over your parents en- enelope long enough to read what they wrote?" He stumbled over the unfamiliar word but the others weren't stupid. As Tahir and Zoë exchanged surprised glances, I considered kicking Seifer. Not for the first time, I wished that I had been here to receive the letter. But as fighting hadn't exactly helped me much that day, I settled for glaring.

"Yes I did," I replied coldly.

"And?"

"The name has been used." I hoped Seifer had enough brains to work out what I meant. His eyes widened for a moment in understanding. Looking briefly around, I saw that the others (except for Jade) were confused. Jake opened his mouth to ask but Jade nudged him in the side. I smiled at her, grateful. She didn't meet my eyes.

"Oh Zac, you haven't read the notice, have you?" Tahir asked. I shook my head and he pointed over to the notice board. "Chappell posted it just now. Go read- I think you're first."

I asked him what I was first for but he just told me to read the board so with a sigh, I got up again and walked over to it. Just my luck, Chappell had left before I could speak to him. Bad luck, but then that was all I seemed to be having that day. Dispersing the crowd around the notices, I read the new piece of parchment.

_All 5__th__ year students are required to have a careers interview with their Head of House during the spring term. These will last between 20 - 30 minutes. Below are the times of each student's interview. Do not be late._

_Professor Trent._

I looked down the list until I reached Slytherin.

_Zac Carew- 28__th__ January, 10:35 AM_

_Adam Etasyl- 28__th__ January, 12:20 PM_

_Jade Fornoy- 29__th__ January, 11:45 AM_

And the list went on, ending with Jake. There were huge time gaps between the interviews, presumably to fit in with schedules. Unfortunately, I was the first one to go so I had no way of knowing what it would be like. I went back to my friends and sat down.

"This is a bit sudden. They haven't even given us information on careers. What?" Everyone had started to laugh, much to my bewilderment. I stared at them, wondering if they had all lost their minds. Eventually Tahir deigned to explain.

"The leaflets have been around for ages," he laughed, "you just haven't picked one up. Look, there's one over there." He gestured to a nearby table. I walked over to it and picked it up.

"A career in…law? What the hell, I'm not doing that. Sod that. Are there any others about?"

They laughed again. Jake struggled to reply, but he eventually managed. "Nope," he said, "everyone else has gotten them. You shoulda been quicker." I growled but before I could respond, Seifer announced that it was time for dinner, and then, as an afterthought said that there could be some leaflets near the Great Hall on the general notice board. We decided to go there first.

I knew my luck really had deserted me when there were no leaflets left. Adam spotted us (he had been doing some homework because he was seriously behind) and wandered over.

"What're you all looking at?"

"An empty leaflet box." I replied angrily.

He sniggered. "I can see that but why?"

"Looking for career leaflets but they've all gone. I hate people." I felt like kicking the wall but this wouldn't have been a good idea. Instead I glowered at a Hufflepuff who was looking at us. She scuttled away but it didn't cheer me up.

Adam laughed again. "Probably the idea that you should share with your mates. And get there early."

I grinned thankfully. "Great, so you'll share with me?" I asked eagerly.

He smiled cruelly. "Nope, Slytherin rule- don't share anything you won't get back. Keep your stuff to yourself." Everyone burst out laughing. I snarled angrily.

"What a load of bull."

"Way it works Zac, just the way it works." He looked at the doors to the Great Hall. "Come on, let's go eat. I'm starved." He sauntered into the Hall before I could respond. The others followed, still laughing. I entered last. Adam was getting too cocky around me. I needed to sort him out before he found an advantage and defeated me. But how? Try as I might, the answer didn't come to me.

By Monday I had read the law leaflet about 100 times- if nothing else, I supposed I could talk about a career in law for half an hour. And although I would not admit it to anyone, after the thirtieth time it had actually started to appeal to me. People who like public speaking and to argue. People who felt strongly about issues and weren't afraid to tell others…it sounded like my sort of thing. Besides, as it looked like I had no other ways of finding new careers I would probably have to talk to Chappell about law.

In addition, Kali had furnished Simon with some dung bombs and told him to use them on the two targets and then mumble a certain spell to follow. It was a success and, best of all, Simon told me that the Ravenclaws were getting confused over who was pulling pranks- they had thought it was us but there had been no Slytherins nearby at the time of the prank. I had to smile when he told me that I was right about the Slytherins being friendly- after waving at a hulking fourth year and being terrified that he would be beaten up, the fourth year had waved back. And other Slytherins also greeted him when he was alone. I couldn't help laughing when he told me that. He was incredibly easy to manipulate.

I ignored the talk about the two Ravenclaws beating me up, merely sneering at anyone who asked. After Simon's prank, I brought that up instead causing all the Slytherins to laugh. People left me alone after that.

On Monday, I left Transfiguration five minutes early, wandered down to the dungeons and stopped at Chappell's office. Knocking politely on the door, I waited anxiously, my hands stroking the much read pamphlet inside my robes. As soon as he told me to enter, I walked inside and sat down on the hard wooden chair. Sometimes I wished that the dungeon rooms were a bit more comfortable.

He spoke first. "Good morning Zac."

"Morning Professor."

"Well, let's cut to the chase. Any careers in mind?" He sounded jovial. I couldn't help smiling back.

"Uh…well all I got was something on law so that, I guess." This made Chappell laugh.

"You're deciding your future based on what pieces of paper you picked up?" He enquired. I blushed.

"Of course not," I replied, "but it seems like a good place to start. Sir."

"Fair enough. So, do you want to work in law or are you clutching at straws?"

"It seems interesting sir."

"Why?"

I wasn't expecting that. I thought for a moment. "Well I like debating and standing up for people. And problem solving. It sounds like my sort of thing." I smiled, pleased with my answer.

"I see," he replied, "any thoughts on which kind of lawyer?"

"Erm…" I hadn't given that any thought so I picked the first one which came into my head. "Human rights." This actually did sound like my sort of thing so I decided to stick to it.

"Human rights?" He didn't sound convinced.

"That's right." I said firmly. "Human rights."

"Okay…so do you know what you need?"

"Skills or qualifications sir?"

"Qualifications."

"No sir." I had always gone out of my way to avoid looking at that part for too long. Exams depressed me.

"Well, you need quite a lot. They expect NEWTS in either Ancient Runes or Muggle Studies, you need several Outstandings at OWL and NEWT and for human rights, you'll need an OWL in Muggle Studies which I don't believe you have."

He was right. No self respecting Slytherin chose that subject. Perhaps that was why he had looked so confused. I thought quickly. "I do have a good knowledge of muggles sir. Sadly, my parents are obsessed with them. I can tell you anything you need to know."

Indeed…alright then Zac, what is the purpose of a telephone?"

I smiled confidently. "To communicate with other people without having to meet them or send a letter." That was easy.

"If you really do know so much, then tell me, is Manchester United going to win the Premier League?"

I stared at him. "Are who going to win what?" My knowledge of muggle sports had more or less gone down the drain. He winked at me.

"It's alright, I would have been worried if you knew that. Sadly my sister is married to a muggle and so I too know all about them. Perhaps you can sit this paper next year then Zac."

"Yes sir."

"I see your grades are doing well but Professor Shalia will only let people with E or higher into her class. Currently you're getting As. Do you think you can improve?"

"Definitely sir." I never put much effort into homework but I thought that perhaps I should start.

"So, any other careers in mind?"

I thought quickly of some muggle careers and then translated them into magical ones. They couldn't be too different. "Yeah…politician or teacher would be fun I guess."

"Why?" Once again, I was forced to think quickly. The politician one was easier as I could just say what I had said earlier. I think he saw through my reasons to be a teacher though for he did not ask about it. Finally he asked if there was anything else I had in mind. I was about to say no when I thought of something.

"Yeah…auror sir." I replied, trying not to laugh. The teacher looked at me.

"Okay…but I have to warn you now Zac, that includes a lot of hard work and I'm not sure if it's really your sort of thing."

"Oh." I was a bit put out- I didn't like being told that I couldn't do something.

"But if you are serious about it then you need to take Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts and…ah, you don't look so sure any more."

"I'm not," I replied honestly, "so I think I'll give it a miss sir." He nodded and this time when he asked about careers I did the simple thing and said no. We talked for a few more minutes about careers and getting me to meet a lawyer and whether I could leave after the exams to visit my sister. Finally, I left, just in time for break.

And that was when I found out.

As I walked into the busy corridors of Hogwarts, I spotted Zoë and Jade so I walked over to them. Or behind them at any rate because there were too many people to allow me to walk next to them. Just as I was about to tap my girlfriend on the shoulder, I heard her say something which hurt me more than I could say.

She said, "I know Zoë, but Zac scares me too much. Jake said I should break up with him as well but he'd kill me. He would probably kill me." There was genuine fear in her voice. I stopped in the corridor, watching the pair go on, ignoring the people who walked into my back. Until Seifer did. He asked me how the interview went. I dragged him into an empty classroom.

"Am I scary?" I asked fiercely. He stared at me.

"You are when you drag people into classrooms." He replied after a moment. I resisted the urge to curse him.

"No, seriously. Am I a scary person?" I demanded.

He looked around nervously. "Uh…no more than usual. What's brought this on?"

I studied him for a moment before finally replying. "I heard Jade talking. About breaking up with me and-"

"Oh!" Seifer interrupted. "Stop right there. You heard her say she's scared of you. I see." He looked at his feet for a moment and tapped the table. Just as I was about to ask him if he was going to tell me anything, he looked up and spoke softly. "Listen mate, you want the truth?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'm telling you now, as your best friend and not as a Slytherin or a member of your plan or anything so don't get mad, but…nearly everyone's scared of you." I stared at him, horrified, as he continued. "Ever since we came back, you've been obsessed. And anyone who complains gets a yelling or a curse put on them. You act like everyone's friend but when they mess up and tell you to tone it down, you suddenly change. Whenever Jade speaks to you, you snap at her and then later you pretend to be sorry. No offence but you've been acting like a monster. I even heard some first years call you the new Dark Lord."

I closed my eyes, unable to believe what my best friend had just said. Softly, I asked him about Jake but he refused to answer. It didn't matter though. I could tell that Jake fancied Jade and so telling her to break up with me was for his good as much as hers. It was so obvious now- his soppiness, always talking to her, everything. He wouldn't dare tell me of course- if I staked any interest in a girl, the other boys instantly backed away. This being so, if I knew that someone else had an interest in the girl before me, I did not mention my crush, instead letting them carry on. In Jade's case, I had made it clear instantly.

Eventually, I opened my eyes.

"I…did all that?" I asked. He nodded. I looked away.

"I'm sorry." He said. I ignored him, still thinking. The new Dark Lord. That wasn't what I wanted. At least, I didn't think it was.

I wanted justice.

I wanted equality.

But no, I wanted power.

I wanted to be the leader.

It was all so clear to me now. I left the room as Seifer asked me where I was going. I told him I was going to break up with Jade, to put her out of her misery.

And I didn't let any of the tears fall from my eyes until I was safely in one of the toilets.


	15. Death Eaters' Advocate

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter at all.

Geth342: How's that for a quick update huh? I don't know if you've noticed but i'm starting to put previews in my profile of the next chapter. Anyway, the next few chapters are going to focus on Seifer more- in fact, i think i might have given away part of his secret in this chapter. If you think you know what it is, feel free to tell me. I'm interested to see how well i hid it.

This chapter is dedicated to DeadlyCreative who has not only reviewed every chapter but i suspect actually read 10 chapters and reviewed them all in one sitting. Considering that's about 40000 words or so, that is very impressive. So thanks a lot :)

Anyway i hope you enjoy and please read and review. Oh and as a brief warning- there is a reference to capital punishment in this chapter. Nothing very heavy though.

Chapter 15: Death Eaters' Advocate.

As soon as lessons were over, I pulled Jade to one side and quietly told her that I wanted to break up with her. I did all the corny things- I said that she was a wonderful girl, that it was me not her (actually true in this case) and that I hoped we could still be friends. As she tried to reply, I watched her closely. Unsurprisingly, relief flashed quickly across her face, to be replaced by a mournful look. She acted upset and there was even a tear but I noticed that she wasn't so much into her act that she would ask me to take her back. In a way I was relieved. It was possible that I would have.

But then again, as the days turned into weeks, I found myself thinking less of Jade and more of a certain Hufflepuff. She would pop into my head mid plot, in much the same way Jade had. I didn't understand it. I didn't think I was attracted to her- in fact the only thing I liked doing with her was talking and even that usually ended in an argument. I was certain that it was merely a punishment for the way I had treated everyone.

After breaking up with Jade, I had gone out of my way to be nicer to the Slytherins. I put less pressure on them, congratulated people when they did things right and only gave out punishments for stupid blunders which could have been avoided if the person had thought. I occasionally allowed myself to be the butt of people's jokes. I was clawing their loyalty back, slowly but surely.

Simon was proving efficient as a spy. The Ravenclaws, he reported, were planning on setting a trap to catch one of the Slytherins. He knew the exact time, place and who was going to do it. I had already given the warning. His last report had been proved right so everyone knew to stay away. Not for the first time, I wondered why having spies had never occurred to me before. But then again, Ravenclaw was the closest house to Slytherin and even that had its' limits. Another spy being available was highly unlikely.

By late February, everything had settled into a new dreary fashion. We went to lessons, did some revision, pulled some pranks, went to detention and cursed whichever teacher or house was annoying us that day. Nothing really seemed to change until we read the poster on the notice board.

It was the end of a long day with double Charms, double History of Magic and Transfiguration last. There was nothing wrong with Transfiguration but the teacher, Professor Ramik, well, sometimes it seemed like her mind wasn't exactly all there. Still, compared with Binns, she was a Godsend. We were complaining bitterly about those two when we saw the crowd around the notice board. Someone spotted me and we were let through. I read the poster out loud.

"Debating club, for students fourth year and above. Covers the syllabus of History of Magic for OWL and NEWT students. It will take place every Monday evening in the Great Hall. The first topic is the Death Eaters." I stopped reading and looked around. Adam immediately started sniggering.

"It sounds dumb. I'm damned if I'm gonna go do more schoolwork."

The rest of us exchanged glances. Tahir shrugged. "Sure, because Binns is teaching you so well. Wasn't it you who said that you wouldn't be surprised if you got a-"

"Yes, yes, we don't need to repeat it," Adam interrupted. Jake laughed.

"Well I'm going," Seifer said. "We need to learn this junk one way or another. Besides, we'll make a bad impression if the Slytherins don't turn up. Without us, we'll be condemned. It'll be a laugh." He started to walk off, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. We stared after him.

"That…was Seifer right?" Jake asked, hesitantly. Tahir laughed uncertainly. I shrugged.

"I think so," I replied, "either him or Peeves. I just don't know which one to put money on."

* * *

We all agreed to go to the first one just to see what it would be like. We weren't the only people talking about it either. As we walked down the corridors, we often heard students talking excitedly about it. It was some of these students who began to crack Seifer.

We were walking behind two Gryffindor girls who seemed excited about it. We were going to ignore them but then one girl said something.

"It's about the Death Eater era isn't it?" One of the girls said. "I can't wait. They're a bunch of evil scum. They deserved to die." Her friend nodded agreement.

Florrie growled deep in her throat, annoyed. Her grandfather was one of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters and she hated people who assumed they were completely evil. All she had heard about him from her mother was the nice side of him. She started to move towards them threateningly as they commented about Death Eater families. Tahir held her back.

Then, to our surprise, Seifer ran towards them, wand out. There was a mad glint in his eye. Before we could stop him, he shouted a spell at one of the girls. She fell backwards, tiny mushrooms sprouting off every visible part of skin we could see. The second girl drew her wand out. Before they could have a duel, I grabbed Seifer.

"Leave it Seif, they're not worth it. They're just a pair of bloodless scumbags." I shouted. He moved out of my grip while the girl told me where to go. Seifer started to speak another spell but Jake leaped behind him and gagged him with his hand. Sadly Seifer was the stronger and shook him off easily. Adam was enjoying it too much to help and Tahir was holding Florrie back. Seifer fired off another spell.

"Back off!" The girl screamed as she dodged. Seifer started to utter another curse.

"No, Seifer." I shouted. "I said leave it! Come on." I tried to drag him away but he wouldn't go. I heard someone approaching and desperately decided on a course of action. I don't think I even thought about it.

I grabbed Seifer and slapped him. He glared at me and stalked off whilst the girl picked her friend up. I started to move forward to help but then changed my mind. After all, it wasn't my fault that the girl had offended Seifer. The mushroom girl glared at us, tears in her eyes and ran off. Her friend followed but not before giving us a death glare. I was starting to feel somewhat unloved- three glares in thirty seconds. As soon as the girls turned the corner, my friends burst out laughing.

"Did you see the look on her face?" Adam guffawed. Tanya nodded.

"She never was pretty but that makes her look like the gargoyle outside Trent's office."

Jake joined in. "No, worse. Like Quake." Everyone burst out laughing again- everyone except me and Florrie. I found that I couldn't really laugh at Quake after hearing his story but I still smiled to show I appreciated the joke. Then I turned my attention to Florrie.

The girl was clearly furious. Her knuckles were white and she was fingering her wand. She had turned away from us, unable to join in. I walked behind her.

"Feel like killing them?" I asked softly.

She didn't turn around. "I feel like killing everyone." She replied, equally soft. "I hate them."

"Same. But they didn't know what they were talking about." I had absolutely no idea why I was defending the two girls. Neither did Florrie.

She whirled around, eyes furious. "No. No one does. And they still do it. Why the hell shouldn't they? We all know what the Death Eaters did."

I didn't have an answer.

* * *

Finally, the Monday evening came. All the Slytherins from fourth year and above who weren't too behind on homework met in the common room and we set off together. By the time we arrived, the room was full of babbling students. We slid into the crowd.

Seifer had not spoken to me since the incident. I had thought about it a lot and found that I was wondering _why_ I seemed to solve everything with violence. True, I had used words at first but that had quickly evaporated into fighting. Everything I did ended with a fight. But there was no other way to solve my problems...at least, that's what I thought.

The debate began with Professor Neclor and Professor Binns introducing the topic- Were the Death Eater's to blame for the rise of the Dark Lord- and then inviting people to go on the podium and speak. Predictably, a Gryffindor got the first word.

She swaggered forward confidently and smiled at everyone. And then she began to speak- about all their war crimes and torture and vile deeds. She spoke for about five minutes and at the end, everyone cheered. Except for us. Someone, Reaver I guessed, began to boo but soon shut up after being told that if there was any more booing we would have to leave. Neclor walked onto the stage and cheerily asked for a rebuttal No one obliged so he asked again. This time I put my hand up. As I was the only one who did this, I went straight up.

"Shania didn't answer the question," I began slowly, ignoring the people in front of me. For some reason, one of the rules was that we had to use first names, which felt a bit awkward to me- I was used to calling most people by their surnames. "She outlined what the Death Eaters did. But what we were asked is were they to blame for the rise of You Know Who?

"To an extent, they are. But no more than anyone else. If everyone was so brave, why was it only a handful of people who stood up to them? Why did they all wait for Harry Potter," here, I sneered, "to save them? Sure, the Hogwarts kids did something…but what about the rest of the Magical World? Just the Order really. How is a bystander not to blame, if he does nothing?

"Besides, from what Shania said you'd think that the Death Eaters were on the make twenty four seven. None of you actually met them, you don't know. Maybe they were scared. Maybe there were other factors. I'm not saying anything about their personalities because I never met them. How can you judge them based on a biased history without judging yourselves?"

This time, only the Slytherins cheered. My reply was short compared to the Gryffindor's but then, there wasn't a huge amount I could say- just what I had. The only reason I had even gone first was so that the others would speak up later. People stared at me, perhaps unwilling to understand that I had taken it seriously but Neclor walked on stage clapping.

"Well done Zac. Nice come back. So, who wants to challenge Zac? Ah, yes, Jon…no not you Williams, your hand isn't up, Jon Stickler I mean. Come on up Jon." He waved to a boy who walked onto the stage, smirking confidently.

Jon Stickler and Kisser were as confident and stuck up as they had been on the day I first met them. Stickler always walked with the confidence of being told he was good enough every day of his life. His good looks had made him popular amongst most of the female students but, oddly, he wasn't the sort of guy who just went for girls because he thought they were hot and nor did he treat them as anything less than his equal. As he strutted onto the stage and gave his trademark grin, I tried not to curse him. Despite everyone saying that he was a nice person- head boy no less- I couldn't forget the first day on that train.

He spoke in his smooth voice. "Zac was correct in outlining the question, but sadly was correct in little else." He paused whilst everyone laughed at the funny, funny joke. "A leader is useless without his followers- had he no followers, he would not have risen. The Death Eaters were evil enough to comply to his orders and…"

I tuned out. It was more or less what the first girl had said except he was relating it to the topic. He cracked another joke with me at the butt of it but the Slytherins merely glared whilst everyone laughed. I looked around defiantly and through the people spotted Tammy. She was not laughing for which I was thankful. In fact, her face seemed to be turning red but I couldn't really figure out why. Maybe she was hot.

Finally he finished to a loud round of cheers from most of the audience. One of our sixth years started catcalls and her friends joined in, making us laugh. Once again, Neclor was not impressed.

"Please people," he said, "it's not a debate if we keep getting these responses." He looked around the room and finally his eyes rested on us. "And, whilst I'm mentioning it, could debaters please refrain from gaining votes by making other speakers look bad…yes Mr. Stickler I am referring to you. I think if you would like to stay in the hall you should apologise to Mr. Carew."

"Sorry…Carew." Stickler's voice called with absolutely no hint of an apology in it. I said nothing.

Neclor carried on anyway. "Anyway, who wants to speak up for the con side? Anyone? Come on. Yes, Florrie Selwyn. Up you come."

Florrie didn't actually like public speaking much so this was incredibly brave of her. But as she passed, I could see the familiar whitening of her knuckles- I was clearly not the only person Stickler had annoyed. Every Slytherin gave her a clap on the back or shoulder as encouragement.

She stood on the podium and began to speak, in a quivering voice. "W-what Jon said i-is not exactly true. D-death eaters were not soulless." Here, the Slytherins cheered giving her more courage. "They did terrible things and as Zac said, they were to blame to an extent. But you can't blame one group of people and you can't call them all evil.

"Jon and Shania have no experience with Death Eaters apart from what they were taught here and by their parents. As you all seem to know, my grandfather was a Death Eater." She said this quite bitterly but no one said anything as she continued. "His daughter and my mother, Anita Selwyn, knew him well as a kind, loving man who wanted something for his family. He did what he thought was right. Yes he was wrong but he knew only what he had been taught. How can you condemn anyone who acts as they have been brought up? Could you blame Neville Longbottom for being a hero? No, because he was told every day of his life to fight evil.

"Dolores Umbridge was not a Death Eater. She aided the Dark Lord without ever being put in his circle. So did many others. Why aren't they being blamed? Why do we not curse their names on Harry Potter day? Because they didn't have some stupid tattoo? We curse people such as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy- the people who saved Potter at the end. They weren't evil; they simply cared about their family.

"I'll end with this. The Death Eaters acted as many people do. You say it's a Slytherin thing to do. You say that their judging people was a Slytherin thing to do and that was why the Dark Lord rose. Well, how many of _you_ called _me_ a Death Eater when I bumped into you, just because I'm a Selwyn? Tell me that's not judgmental and then show me how my grandfather was any different." She walked off the podium. Angela led the clapping for the girls whilst Tahir, who had a soft spot for Florrie, led the foot stamping and cheers for the boys. Once again, the rest of the hall did not appear to react…except for one person. I spotted her out of the corner of my eye. Tammy was clapping politely, the same way she had for Stickler.

It took Neclor a few minutes to calm us down. I was not at all ashamed to admit that Florrie had done a much better job than I had. Once we were all silent, he called the next speaker- Shelly this time- up to the podium. She smiled and began one of the more balanced speeches we had heard. Whilst clearly showing that she was arguing pro, she accepted that we definitely had some points correct. In fact she managed to keep my attention throughout her speech and hers was the first one where I seriously considered what she said. I was more than a little impressed. Who knew that the blonde was so good at public speaking? And, what was more, her fair sided argument implied, at least to me that she didn't think badly of Slytherin. Perhaps I had misjudged her.

When she finished all her friends cheered and clapped as per usual. Unusual was the fact that no Slytherins even attempted to boo or annoy her. I even spotted a fourth year clapping before his friend nudged him.

Reaver was the next to speak and unlike me or Florrie, he made no attempt to accept the other side's views and the audience went back to its happy stupor- Slytherins cheering only for their speakers, everyone else cheering for theirs.

Until Amy Zinnias, elder Hufflepuff sister of May Zinnias, spoke.

It started off normal- this person was evil, everyone was evil, Death Eaters could have said no and so on. But then she mentioned a point which, in retrospect, it was surprising no one else had.

She said, "No one here doubts that You Know Who was completely evil, showing that there are people like that. Well, although we've discussed whether the Death Eaters were evil or not perhaps I could direct your attention to one particular one…Bellatrix Lestrange." Beside me, I heard someone breathe in sharply but I didn't look. "That…monster," she spat the words out, "tortured the Longbottoms and killed hundreds of people. She enjoyed it and only had eyes for You Know Who. She worked every hour of every day to help him rise. As a Death Eater she is responsible for his rise. And no one here would disagree that it's a good thing she died, and that her husband did too."

By this point I was hearing some heavy breathing from next to me. I turned to look. Seifer was glaring up at the stage and the venom in his gaze shocked me to the core. But before I could ask him what was wrong, Amy finished and people were cheering. I shrugged and turned away as Neclor asked for someone to give a rebuttal. Then I turned back. Seifer had stuck his hand up before the teacher had even finished his sentence and was already pushing his way through the crowd. He walked onto the podium and looked down at us, anger still apparent in his eyes. I felt like squirming and I hadn't really done anything wrong. It was scary.

"I'm absolutely sick of this," he said in an angry tone, "I'm absolutely sick of everyone talking about people as though they weren't…people." A few people started to snigger but his glare silenced them. I had never seen Seifer like this. "Every person mentioned is a living, breathing creature with thoughts and feelings. And what do we do? We drop names, each giving an individual judgement on them. Why? What the hell gives us the right?"

"Language, Seifer." Neclor said.

Seifer ignored him. "You know what? Like someone said, we can't judge people if we've never met them. Just because the government tells us that so and so was evil doesn't mean it's always true. The government also lets newspapers tell us that every other day, our _beloved_ heroes are cheating on their spouses. If that's true then I seriously fear for the morality of people today." For a moment I thought he had calmed down. But then he went into rant mode again. "So why the hell should we believe those…those…the government?

"Yes, these people did bad things. But to say that it's a good thing that someone _died_? Did you take into account the people who were left behind? The people who loved them? Of course not. You're too full of crap to think about it. Or maybe you only think about the 'Light' side. Well, I have it. Let's kill off everyone who's ever done anything against the law. That's what you want, right?" He looked around, eyes mocking. "So…no more prisoners in Azkaban. That's it, right?" He laughed cynically. "Yeah, you'd think. But no…half the government is gone- you'd be surprised how many crooks there are. So now we're down half a government. Oh well, we can get replacements.

"But wait. About ninety percent of adults have done at least one minor thing against the law. Bye-bye adults. We have ten percent left. And now let's look at Hogwarts. Well, cursing people is acceptable here but what about other things? I believe it's a crime to have sex before the age of sixteen and yep- some of you are blushing. Well I'm sorry but you've gotta die too. Rest in Peace, young Wizards."

"Seifer Langtree!" Neclor called out, shocked. Seifer spared him a glance.

"So maybe you got my point now. I sure as hell hope so. As for this argument, it's pointless. Look at it- Slytherins say that it wasn't the Death Eaters fault because everyone else had a part. The rest of you say it was. Yes, very well balanced. You know what I think? I think that it was the Dark Lord's fault. If you're a pure evil, immortal guy, bent on world domination then you just force everyone to help you. Simple as. Bloody hell, that wasn't even worth a debate." He shook his head in disbelief and started to walk back down as the rest of us stared at him, shocked into silence.

Neclor caught him halfway down the steps. "Seifer," he said sternly, "did you miss my warning about your language? And not to insult people?"

Seifer gave him such a cold look that I could have sworn that the temperature in the room went down by a few degrees. "I thought that a debate was about getting your point across…sir. Sometimes language comes out without controlling it."

"Nevertheless, could you tone it down next time and maybe one or two of your…ideas?"

"Sure…but that doesn't stop it from being the truth." He replied defiantly.

Neclor would have let it rest had someone not shouted. "Yeah, your warped version of it, Death Eater scum." There were a few laughs but most people said nothing. Because, in a strange way, Seifer was right. But it was enough for him.

"You wanna say that again?" He shouted. He drew his wand out.

"Yeah, all right. Death Eater scum." The voice called back cockily. I couldn't see who it was but Seifer clearly could. He wasted no time.

"_SECTUMSEMPRA"_ He screamed, his eyes as wild as they had been a few days before. Someone screamed and Neclor ran to the voice and started muttering spells. We looked at each other uneasily, wondering just _what_ Seifer had done. People began to crowd around the victim and a nervous babble of voices broke out.

Looking around, I saw Seifer- forgotten in the confusion- running out of the hall. I quickly followed him until he reached the side of the lake. It was freezing and dark but he didn't seem to notice as he sat by the water and sent random jets of light into the sky. I hid about fifty metres away, watching as he muttered angrily. I did not intrude.

As I watched, I thought back to the first day of the school year, when I had wondered whether Seifer would ever grow up. Looking at him now, remembering what he had been through and done for me I realised that he had. Not into the prankster I assumed he would be or the responsible person I thought he should be. He had grown into an angry young man, unable to tell the world what he thought. For the first time since I had met him, I felt that I did not know him at all.


	16. The Trap

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form

Geth342- Hey, i'm going pretty quick. I'd just like toclear something up. Zac is getting a baby sister, not a brother (which of course means that Zac was originally a girl!) who will be called Holly.

By the by, the lafael root was made up entirely by me. If such a thing actually exists, even in mythology, i will be very surprised. So my facts can't be wrong because it's not real.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please read and review. Remember to check out the preview as well :)

Chapter 16: The Trap

Unsurprisingly, Neclor caught Seifer the next day and issued a severe punishment. Seventy points off Slytherin, suspension from the Quidditch team for the rest of the year and three months of detentions. The spell he had used was dark magic and the student, a seventh year Gryffindor, was scarred for life. Many students thought that the punishments were not harsh enough. In fact I was surprised that that was all he had gotten when he returned from Trent's office and told us in a solemn voice. When I mentioned it, he shrugged and merely said,

"There's clear reasons why I was provoked to do it."

I stared at him. "Um…mind explaining?"

He looked away. "No. Just…to do with my childhood…it's nothing important. I over reacted." He walked off before I could comment. Seifer was becoming more and more mysterious every day it seemed, and all I could do was watch.

About two more weeks passed without much excitement. Professor Longbottom set us an essay which I promptly forgot about. Simon issued a warning which I delivered. We went to the debates without Seifer and a few others but nothing as bad as the first night happened. If anyone spoke out of line they were instantly taken away and the topics weren't as controversial.

Of course, it was the essay that got me. About three days before we had to hand it in, on a Saturday, I remembered that I hadn't done it and so ran off to the library. As it turned out, I was the only Slytherin who hadn't done it and so I went alone.

I sat down in the library by myself and began to write the essay, irritated. Why anyone would even want to know the properties of Lafael roots was beyond me, let alone have a three foot essay on it, but I couldn't really write that. Instead I began to write what I knew about them from Longbottom's lessons. After fifteen minutes I stopped and read over it.

_Lafael roots have several useful properties. It's most significant property is for poison which is illegal in today's society. It can be used in some medicines but this is very risky. It is used to make the tracking potion to track criminals and is also an ingredient in the tracing spells on wands. There is a debate as to whether it should be banned._

It made miserable reading. For one thing, it was a load of rubbish and in addition to that, I had a sinking feeling that I had just written everything I knew about the stupid roots. With a sigh, I got up, went over to the Herbology section and picked out the largest textbook I could find. Hopefully that would have some information.

I had been writing for an hour with the humongous textbook in front of me when she approached. Several Slytherins had already tapped me on the shoulder but I hadn't paid them much attention. I really needed to finish the essay. I wouldn't have paid her much attention either if she had not spoken.

"Are you done with the book?" The girl behind me asked coldly.

"No." I snapped without turning. I heard a sigh.

"Fine, then may I sit with you and share the textbook?" I looked around, preparing myself to tell the girl to get lost but then I saw who it was. Shelly. If I told her to get lost she would probably ignore me. I considered telling her to go away anyway, just for kicks, but then decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

I shrugged. "If you must." I said coldly before returning to my essay and looking over it. It looked a lot better than it had an hour before but it was only about a foot and a half. By the look of it, I was going to be spending all day working on it. With a sigh, I carried on writing blissfully for about ten minutes. Then, as I turned a page in the book:

"I wasn't done with that page."

I winced. I had forgotten all about Shelly. "Sorry. Tell me when you _are_ done." I sneered and tried to think of something else to write which didn't involve page turning.

_Also, the Lafael root_

It was a good enough start to the next sentence. If I had some information to go with it, it would have been even better. I began to proof read my work. What was taking the girl so long to read one page?

"Okay, now I'm done."

"Finally." I reached over and flicked to the next page, and then began to scribble away. I did this for about five minutes until the Ravenclaw interrupted me again. But by accident this time.

"Dammit."

I looked up, irritated. "What?"

"What do you care?" She asked snidely.

"Well if you're going to interrupt me every five minutes then I want to know why." I replied, equally snide.

She didn't say anything for a moment. Then: "It's this quill." She held up the quill in question, just in case I was blind. "It's writing in invisible ink." She scribbled some words on the page. Or letters. I couldn't be sure because she was right- it was in invisible ink.

"Have you tried normal ink?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

She glared at me. "Yes. It's the quill itself. Now I can't write Longbottom's essay. I have no more quills. Oh God, he's gonna give me detention." She looked close to tears, which was probably why I decided to take pity on her. I can't stand it when people cry at things which I haven't caused, like broken quills (I was pretty sure that the quill wasn't done by my house because it would have taken too much effort to arrange). It really gets to me.

I held out a spare quill. "For the love of Pete, take this one and quit crying." I snarled. She looked up with dry eyes (so I had been wrong about her crying) and took the quill.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

I shrugged. "No problem. Just make sure you give it back to me before tomorrow or Monday or whatever." I went back to writing my essay for another minute or so.

"They're found in caves. Not hives."

I looked up again, not understanding. "You what?"

"In your essay. You said Lafael roots are found in hives. They're not, they're found in caves. See." She showed me the book which clearly said caves. I could not help but wonder where hives had come from.

I should have been wondering why she was helping me. Instead, I smiled wryly. "Thanks." I said and then added, "once a Ravenclaw, always a Ravenclaw huh?"

It was her turn to look confused. "What does that mean?" She laughed.

I smiled. "Well I dunno. When I met you, you didn't want to be in Ravenclaw but you kept trying to tell me all this information about magic. Seems like a Ravenclaw thing to do, give information. Speaking of which, where did you learn public speaking?" I winced when I said that. I had been curious but not to the point of asking her. Sometimes my mouth gets the better of me. Shelly looked surprised but then answered my question.

Our essays went ignored for another ten minutes as we discussed public speaking. We still disliked each other but there was a grudging respect and gratitude between us. It was a truce. At least I thought it was. This was why I let down my guard, something I had sworn never to do.

We went back to writing our essays for about fifteen minutes. I looked up once to see the blonde looking at me. She had a weird expression on her face- a mixture of regret and uneasiness. She caught me looking at her and opened her mouth to say something but then, thinking better of it, carried on writing. I ignored her and went back to my own essay. I still had a lot to write.

Suddenly, a harsh smell hit me in the face. Glancing at Shelly with watering eyes, I saw that she could smell them too. Dungbombs. A lot of them. There weren't a lot of students in the library and they were already running out through the door. I shoved my work in my bag and started to leave.

"Hell. I'm stuck." A voice screamed. I turned back around and sure enough, Shelley's robe was caught in her chair. I looked towards the door and then towards Shelly. Should I leave her and get out clean or stay back and help? Dungbombs weren't fatal but this amount of them could play havoc with your sense of smell. If I stayed to help, I could lose my sense of smell. If I left, I would be safe but Shelly would definitely lose hers. I looked at the door again. It seemed so close. And it wasn't as if I particularly liked Shelly.

I glanced back again. She had already accepted that I wouldn't help and was mutely trying to free herself. I shrugged and started to walk to the door. Why should I help her?

"Oh hell." I muttered before turning back and trying to wrestle Shelly's robe away from the chair. When that didn't work, I simply grabbed the girl by the shoulders and pulled with all my strength, trying not to breathe (rather unsuccessfully). She came away with a loud rip sound. She fell and a large chunk of her robe remained in the chair. I helped her up, trying not to look at her bare midriff. What had possessed her not to wear a shirt or something was beyond me- plenty of kids wore clothes different from robes on the weekend.

She realised that I was carefully avoiding looking at her, looked down and then began to burn a deep red as she desperately tried to cover the large hole. I took my robe off, handed it to her and then pulled her out of the library before she had a chance to do something else stupid, like investigate the dungbombs. By this point, I would not have put it past her.

The last thing I saw was Alwyn's grinning face.

"Hello Carew."

* * *

Silence.

Blissful, peaceful, silence. And darkness stretching before me. It was a nice feeling, not having to think or plot or do anything. Just be.

"Wakey wakey Carew."

I opened my eyes blearily and instantly closed them, groaning. Above me were several grinning faces and I didn't particularly want to look. When you wake up, you prefer to look at something nice rather than someone's face.

"Wake up already!"

Someone poked me but I didn't move. A foot landed in my side. This time, I opened my eyes.

"What?" I asked irritably, forgetting that a Ravenclaw had knocked me out. To add insult to injury, it was the same Ravenclaw as the last time I had been knocked out. Clearly that boy was a dangerous person.

"Wake up." The voice snapped back.

"Clearly, I'm awake," I drawled, ignoring my pounding head, "or I would not be talking to you right now. For Ravenclaws, you're really dumb." I was in too much pain to realise that insulting my captors did not show much better brain power.

"Shut up Carew. We're in control here." I recognised Yoru's voice as he dragged me upright.

"Well well, Rat," (his surname was Ratcher); "you seem to have caught me. Why? I do not know. Feel like letting me go?" I made myself sound unconcerned but my heart was thumping. Why had they kidnapped me?

Glancing around, I saw a blue fire and a statue of some lady as well as a large amount of curious Ravenclaws. I guessed that I was in the Ravenclaw common room for some strange reason. It seemed a bit cosier than the Slytherin one but I would have given anything to be back in the armchairs and eerie green glow of the dungeons with the sound of dripping water in the background. In fact I would have donated a second quill just to sit in any armchair- the Ravenclaw floor was not exactly the most comfortable place around.

"Not a chance Carew," Alwyn snarled, "not until you answer some questions."

"Yeah, like what you did to Simon." A girl added. I looked around for the boy in question. He wasn't there. None of the first years seemed to be.

"Who, Ackley?" I asked innocently. "If you've lost him, it's not my problem. I was in the library all morning. Ask Shelly Grant."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Not what have you done to him _now_," she said in an annoyed voice, "what have you done to him generally? And we know you were in the library all morning. That's why Shelly went over to you."

"Well I haven't done anything to…wait." The penny finally dropped. "You _planned _this? And you sent Shelly to trap me?" I looked through the crowd until my eyes met Shelly's. She did not look away but now I knew what her expressions had been about. And I had had the decency to respect her. I wouldn't make that mistake again. I glared at her. "Grant," I said menacingly, "you've had it. If it's the last thing I do, I will make you regret letting these people attack me. After everything I tried to do for you. You disgust me." I spat on the floor, my eyes never leaving hers. Eventually, she looked away.

"Here, here, none of that," a sixth year said, "we like our floors clean."

"Yeah, well, they won't be with mudbloods and blood traitors like you walking on them." I sneered back. The usual shouts and threats flew up after I said that. I ignored them and tried to move my hands, promptly discovering that I could not. Everyone seemed to get very worked up about those three words- mudblood, and blood traitor. By this point I would have thought that someone would have sung that song –sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never harm you- but then, they probably didn't have it in the magical world.

I was delirious, I knew, but it was hard to snap out of my random thoughts. I began to count in my head, trying to concentrate so that I didn't let anything slip.

Yellow light flashed towards me and suddenly my cheek felt as if it were on fire. After a moment, I felt something wet trickle down to my lips. I licked it. Blood.

"Alwyn; that was unnecessary" Someone protested.

"He deserved it." Alwyn snapped back. I looked at him and smirked.

"Oh yeah, very brave. Cursing a bound person who can't fight back. You shoulda been a Gryffindork." This time I was ready for the yellow curse and did not wince as it hit, although I did close my eyes.

"We are in charge Carew," my torturer said as he moved his face close to mine, "you'd do well to remember that."

"Alwyn, leave him and get on with it," Shelly said, sounding distressed. I wanted no help from her and Alwyn's face was tantalisingly close…

I moved my head- which had not been bound- forward quickly and bit him on the nose. He moved back instantly, screeching. Everyone gathered around him as he began to bleed. I laughed emptily not feeling any joy at what I had done. I did feel a sort of savage satisfaction but that disappeared when another yellow curse hit me in the stomach, knocking me over again. I wanted to double over and scream but that would have shown weakness. Instead I lay there, motionless, ignoring more people telling Alwyn to stop cursing me and a few people saying that this time I really deserved it. What I wanted to do was be unconscious again. And they hadn't even started questioning me. It looked like this day was going to be hell.

Someone pulled me upright again, keeping me at arms length. Yoru took over Alwyn's position.

"Listen Carew, you better tell us what we want to know. Now." He said menacingly.

I blinked at him. "You haven't asked anything yet. Except about Simon." I replied coolly. No one laughed. Yoru looked a bit embarrassed.

"Erm, yeah. Well anyway, I'll ask now then. Who's pulling all these pranks?"

He stuck his wand into my stomach as a threat. I considered him for a moment. "As I seem to recall, _you_ were the ones who set off all those dungbombs. Nearly made young Grant and myself lose our sense of smell. Oh and the Weasley fireworks? That was you. Should I continue?" I smirked as some of the Ravenclaws looked uncomfortable.

Yoru shook his head. "Not those ones. The ones you lot pull." I tried to look innocent as he said this but he wasn't falling for it. "It is you."

I yawned. "What's me?" This time, a blue curse hit me, robbing me of sight for a few moments. When it returned, I saw Alwyn laughing and then being moved out of the way by a black girl. She had a brief argument with Yoru and then stood in front of me.

"Look Carew," she said gently, "if you tell us what we want to know then we'll let you go without causing any more damage." I didn't reply; something had caught my eye. Her voice became more insistent. "Come on, if you tell us, we'll let you go."

I grinned. "You'll let me go now." I replied.

She looked puzzled. "Why's that then?"

My grin widened. "Because Professor Neclor is right behind you. Hello sir, could you please tell your house to let me up? My back's getting quite stiff from being bound."

The girl spun around, shocked, as Neclor quietly asked who was responsible for my condition. Whilst everyone mumbled, he told people to lift the spells off me and then helped me stand up. It took me a few tries- my legs had gone to sleep from being bound for so long. Someone said that I had snuck into the Ravenclaw tower, to which my response was that I couldn't have because I didn't know the password. The same loudmouth informed me that all you needed to do was answer a question which seemed like a rubbish way of keeping the Common Room safe to me. I merely smiled and said that if Neclor would just check my bag, he'd find my half done essay which was what I had wanted to do that day.

Eventually, Neclor escorted me out of the tower and said that everyone in that room would be in a huge amount of trouble. I thanked him and hobbled back down to the Slytherin common room. After all that, the last thing I wanted to do was Herbology.

Once in the common room, someone asked me what had happened to my robe and why my stomach was bleeding (I had a white t-shirt on so people could see the blood). I told them about my ordeal. To my surprise, Adam laughed.

"What?" I snapped angrily.

"Your kid, Ackley, said not to go the library today. You kept reminding us all and then…and then…_you_ went, ignoring all our warnings." He broke into fresh laughter as everyone else joined in. My heart sank. He was right. That was how they'd planned it and why so many Slytherins tapped me on the shoulder. I had been too pig headed to remember my own warning. That fact hurt worse than all the curses they had hit me with. I hate forgetting important things like that- and being made a fool out of.

Twenty minutes later, people were still ribbing me about it. My watch told me that it was about four o'clock- I had been in the Ravenclaw tower for two hours- when a stringy sixth year walked in and promptly began telling his friends about something that had happened in the potions room to the first years. I wouldn't have noticed had Seifer not suddenly turned white.

"What. Did. You. Say?" He gasped out. The sixth year turned to look at him.

"Uh…only that the first years whom Chappell made go to a potions lesson today had an explosion. They're like, all in the hospital wing, all those Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs." He laughed. I smiled- at least I knew why Simon had not been in the Ravenclaw tower. Beside me, Seifer made a choking sound which seemed to be more of a gulp than a laugh. I looked at him.

"Oh," he gasped, "funny." He looked away, still pale. I made a snap decision.

"Right, well I'm gonna go to the second floor. I want to set a trap for those bloody Ravenclaws, so I'm gonna scout out a bit." I looked around for a moment. "Seif, come with me?"

He glared at me. "Fine." He spat out. I smiled sweetly and we left. On the way up, he did not say a word until we reached the corridor by the entrance to the Hospital Wing. At the same time, a chunky third year Gryffindor walked up to us. He looked at Seifer.

"I didn't think you were coming."

Seifer shrugged. "I'm not, really. It's a coincidence that I'm here."

"Sure." The boy didn't sound like he believed him.

"I'm just here with Zac because we're checking something out. I don't care about…yeah." He did not look at me once. I wasn't stupid though and neither was the boy. He walked up to me.

"You're Zac, aren't you?" I nodded. He continued speaking, his voice calm. "I know all about your little 'we want respect' thing. So I'm asking nicely. Zac, will you let Seifer come with me? I swear no harm will come to him. I'm David Alcorn so if he does die or whatever, you can tell the teachers it was me. Okay?"

Letting Seifer go to the Hospital Wing had been my plan anyway- it was obvious that he wanted to go. I pretended to think about it and then nodded grudgingly.

"If you have to, then go. But make sure you're back before this evening." I said before walking away. As I turned the corner I glanced back and saw something startling- Seifer gave the boy a clasp on the shoulder as they walked into the Hospital Wing. And then I got excited. I knew exactly how to find out what was going on. I was going to find out his secret.


	17. Seifer's Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. End of.

Geth342: Wow, i'm getting good with updates. But i doubt the next chapter will be anywhere near as fast.

This was shorter than i expected it to be. It's mostly dialogue again but the next chapter will be more action. There's a part where Seifer is speaking and mentions something someone else said. I wrote the second persons part in italics to seperate Seifer's actual speech and his account fo the other speech.

Anyhow, i hope you enjoy and please read and review. And i only hope i did Seifer justice with this :)

Chapter 17: Seifer's Secret.

I considered going to the Common Room first but I didn't want to mess this up. The best way to catch Seifer would be to get him after he finished visiting his person in the Hospital Wing- when he would be most off guard.

Of course, I held the advantage in that I had guessed who he had gone to see. It was obvious, at least to me. At the beginning of the year, I recalled a first year Ravenclaw girl coming up to us and speaking to Seifer. When he had been asked about her, he had snapped. I was sure that the other people with us had forgotten about it but it had always stuck in the back of my mind. And now that he had gone to the Hospital Wing which was filled with first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, I had suddenly remembered. It was too much of a coincidence.

The one thing that I could not work out however, was how the Gryffindor fitted into it all. I had seen him once or twice around the school- as I had everyone else, more or less- but I had never met him or seen anyone I knew talking to him. To me, he had merely been another nameless face, a target to fight injustice. Seifer had never shown any sign that he knew him and vice versa. In fact, my best friend had never mentioned knowing a Gryffindor.

I headed outside. Luckily, the day had been quite warm for mid march and there had been no rain but it was still chilly and the light had begun to fade. I walked down to the lake, spotted a tree and clambered up, ignoring the dirt on my trousers.

I sat in the tree, waiting for Seifer. I began to feel cold and not for the first time, I wished that I hadn't given my robe to Grant. Still, I had to wait.

The lake was Seifer's favourite place to think. Right by the tree- he would sit there at any time, thinking or casting spells. It was where he had gone after the disastrous debate. I knew that when he came back from the Hospital Wing he would go there. He would have a lot on his mind.

And sure enough, after about half an hour, he walked underneath the tree and sat down, ignoring the fading light. I jumped down behind him silently, masking my presence until I was behind him.

"Is she alright?" I asked, my voice cutting into the silence.

"Yeah she's gonna be...what?" He turned and looked at me, startled. "Zac?"

Clearly, he hadn't been expecting me. I smiled uneasily. "Heya Seifer." I replied.

He stared at me. "W-what are you doing here?" He asked hesitantly. I considered my options.

"Well…I…I wanted to know." I replied somewhat lamely. After five years as a Slytherin I could usually think well under pressure but somehow this situation was different. How could I tell my best friend that I wanted to know his secret?

"Know what?" He said guardedly, understandably confused and defensive. I sighed.

"Um…it's just, you never talk about your home life or anything. And that Ravenclaw who you went to visit and -don't even try to deny it, I know she was who you visited- and the Gryffindor and, well, everything!" I finished this with a wide arm gesture as though I were enveloping something. Trying not to blush, I looked at Seifer who regarded me impassively.

"I see," he said after a moment. "What is it you wish to know?" His tone was a monotone; he didn't sound like my Seifer. I knew I had to play it carefully. The thought of losing my best friend opened a gaping hole inside me, despite my law to never trust anyone. Hadn't Grant taught me that?

"I dunno," I murmured, suddenly unsure of myself, "I mean…that Ravenclaw. The girl. Who is she? You know her from somewhere." It ended as an accusation, something I wasn't expecting. I winced but kept looking at him.

I wasn't expecting a reply but I got one. "Her name's Serena," he said softly and it was as if a light had come on inside him. His face glowed as he said the name. "She's my stepsister."

That surprised me. I had always thought that Seifer was an only child. I tried to mask my surprise as I asked, "And is that guy, David, your stepbrother?"

He nodded. "Yeah. David's in third year and Serena's in first." He had been looking at the ground but now he looked up at me. "And now you're wondering why they're step siblings."

"Um…"

"I'm adopted." He turned away from me and looked over the lake. "D'you remember the debate where I lost my temper?"

I laughed and then stopped abruptly. "Seif," I said, "I think _everyone_ remembers it. That guy's scarred for life. And it was only about two or three weeks ago."

He nodded absent mindedly. "Yeah, well it was what that Hufflepuff said. That they deserved to die. And that Bellatrix Lestrange was evil as hell." I said nothing and let him continue in his slow hesitant way. I was wondering where this was going. "That's untrue. To be evil, you have to not be able to love someone and Bellatrix loved the Dark Lord. And she loved her husband." He stopped again.

I was confused. "How d'you know that then?"

He still didn't look at me. "Because, she and her husband had a child together. A son- Balthier Lestrange." He kept talking to the lake. "He was born maybe a year or two after the Dark Lord fell the first time. Bellatrix and Rodolphus sent him to live with some relatives which turned out to be a good thing because they were arrested shortly after that for what they did to those aurors. He visited them about once a month in Azkaban but his existence wasn't known to the wider wizarding world.

"Well he grew up, obviously, without his parents around. When he was fourteen they were killed anyway. When he was thirty two, he met Amalia Langtree, a pureblood American witch. They married. Balthier decided to change his surname rather than have Amalia change hers so that people would stop glaring at him for being a Lestrange. The next year, Amalia gave birth to a son. Seifer Rodolphus Langtree."

Finally, he looked up, having said this in a dull voice. I stared at him, shocked. "You…you're…you're Bellatrix Lestrange's _grandson_?" I spluttered.

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" He glared at me. I printed a fake smile on my face, trying to appease him.

"No, no, not at all. Good for you…uh, yeah well…come on, give me some leeway. I wasn't expecting that." I pleaded. For the first time since mentioning his sister's name, he grinned.

"Fair enough Zac. But don't you want to know the rest?" He asked teasingly.

I nodded without thinking. "Yeah. I mean, if you had parents, why are you adopted?"

He shrugged. "My dad was a bit of a trouble maker. No, scrap a bit. A lot. He was into the dark arts, just like his parents. So was my mum. Not to the extent of his parents but still a lot." I noticed that he never called the Lestranges his grandparents. "And, well, my dad was a bit of a nutter. He got all violent a lot- he used to slap me a bit even though I was only a little kid. And my mum. But not always- when he was in a good mood, he was my hero. He used to come home, pick me up and throw me up and down in the air saying 'there's my man'. He got me treats and took us out on random trips. I can still remember that.

"But when I was about seven it all changed. He had been in bad moods a lot and, of course, he was a bit of a crook. I think some of his crimes had been going badly. I was in one room, reading a book, when I heard them arguing, as usual. But then, I heard him scream something and a thump and I got really scared. I mean, hell, I was only seven and I didn't know much magic but somehow I knew that this time, something bad had happened. So I tried to go into the room they were in and see what was going on, but my dad came out He saw me and smiled thinly. His hands were red and he told me that he didn't want me to go in that room because it was covered in red paint and mum was in a bad mood. Then he went out." He looked away. "He tried to rob a shop and was killed in the process. Then, when the aurors came to check out our house, they found my mum. She was dead, murdered by my father."

He didn't speak for a while. I was too scared to say anything so I merely looked at him. It was strange. This boy had had a terrible childhood but he'd grown into such a cheery person.

When he finally turned back, his eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. He tried to wipe them away without me seeing. Then he grunted and carried on speaking.

"After that, I got sent to a new home- no one wanted me to go to any relatives in case I got bad influences. None of my relatives know I'm alive -they were told I was murdered, along with my mother. So I was given to the Alcorns. The idea was that they would get me thinking straight, but by this point, I knew all about my family. My father always stressed it to me and now that they were dead, I decided that it was up to me to continue the family name.

"I got into loads of wild trouble- fighting anyone who came near, parroting my dad's beliefs about mudbloods, everything. David always argued with me, but Serena became my ally. She always calmed me down when I was angry; if I was in trouble she would cheer me up and she always sat with me when I was lonely. She was maybe three when I moved in but she treated me like her brother straight away. David refused to. We never really got on. In fact, we've never acknowledged each other in Hogwarts."

"Yes, I noticed," I replied.

Seifer smiled sheepishly at me. "Yeah, well, that's not my point. I mean, I'm a Slytherin and he's a Gryffindor as well. Neither my stepmum nor my stepdad wanted me to be in Slytherin. Which is partly why I chose it."

I stared at him. I seemed to be doing that a lot, but this _was_ the first time he had talked about his life. Vaguely, I wondered _why_ he was going into so much detail. Surely he knew that I could use the information. And then it hit me. He trusted me.

And that was such a weird feeling that I had to distract myself. So I asked him about what he meant about choosing Slytherin- this sounded weird to me because surely the hat just put you wherever it felt like.

Seifer thought for a moment. "Do you remember how long my sorting took?" He asked.

I looked skywards, trying to remember. It had been over four years but eventually, a vague glimpse of a memory came. "Um…it was maybe ten seconds, right?" I said hesitantly.

He laughed: a short, coarse bark. "Ten seconds? Is that all it was? Maybe, maybe not…It seemed longer to me." His mouth thinned as he recalled his sorting. "As soon as I put that hat on, it said that I would do well in Hufflepuff and was about to consider Gryffindor when I cut it off. I told it that for me, it was Slytherin or nothing. I said that if I got put into any other house, I would leave. Finally it agreed and said that I did have the qualities of a Slytherin so I could go there."

I considered this new information for a moment. "But…why did you want to go to Slytherin so much?" I asked. "I mean, it's definitely the best house but…" I trailed off and looked at Seifer expectantly. His answer was not long in coming.

"I dunno. I wonder why now, sometimes, but then it was a simple thing to me. I wanted to be like my relatives and be in Slytherin, like my father and his parents. It was like carrying on the family name and proving to people that just by shoving me with a 'good' family didn't mean they could change me. And I was happy when I got put in Slytherin anyway. But…" We seemed to be ending all our comments with but.

"But?" I prompted.

He smiled humourlessly. "Remember when I went to Trent's office to get my punishment after that debate?" I nodded. "Well, he went out for about ten minutes. And I saw the hat. And I suddenly decided to put it back on. Y'know, just to see. And it knew it was me instantly. So I asked about whether I had made the right choice and it said that it couldn't tell me. But then it added that whilst I was definitely at home in Slytherin, the fact that my personality was predominantly a Hufflepuff's was something I couldn't change. It was just the way I was." He pulled a face. "I got so angry that I nearly took it right back off and set it on fire. But then it said something weird." He became silent again. I rolled my eyes.

"What did the hat say?" I asked impatiently.

Seifer grinned wickedly, a trace of his usual self back in his face. "Actually, I think you've heard enough," he said.

I laughed. "Seif, you can't just leave it at that. You've got me wondering now."

"Fine, fine," he laughed, raising his hands, "What it said was this." Suddenly, he became more serious. "_Funny how the ones who pick their house always ask me for reassurance. No Mr. Langtree, you're not the only one who chose your house- I always take someone's choice into account. And it always works out. But as I said to every person who has tried me on twice before and as I will say to people who try me on twice in the future- your choice made you the person you are now. But mark my words; you would have done well in Hufflepuff._

"And then, just as I was getting more than a bit annoyed it added in a kind tone- I swear, a kind tone: _But don't regret it Seifer- the choice makes the person and your choice will undoubtedly affect someone else._" He shook his head. "And then I took it off and Trent came back in. It was mad."

He was certainly right about that. Listening to his story, I couldn't believe it. Any of it. My friend was the grandson of a murderer, an abused boy and should have been in Hufflepuff. But even as I thought about the unlikelihood of this, more things came back to me.

Like Seifer's love of younger children- an influence from his childhood and his stepsister.

The way Seifer would get annoyed about people hating the Death Eaters and their families- obviously, as the descendant of the Dark Lord's closest servant he would hate that talk.

How he seemed to spend less time plotting and more time working and joking- clearly less snake like qualities than the average Slytherin.

How he shrunk back, ever so slightly, when someone raised a hand against him.

It was all so obvious- why hadn't I seen it? But even as I thought it, I knew that he was good at hiding these things. I was so wrapped up in other things that I never observed him closely enough. But as I thought about it more, I recalled other things. Specifically, the times when I had thought him to be unlike other Slytherins.

"This- this doesn't change anything, does it?"

I looked towards the boy whose voice was so nervous and unsure. And though I felt that I should use this information in some way, that feeling of trust came into me and without thinking, I found myself saying, "No, no, of course not. You're you, not Bellatrix or your adopted family. What the hell kinda justice fighter would I be if I stopped being mates with you?" His smile lit his face right up and spontaneously, we hugged.

As far as I recalled, it was the first time that I had ever hugged anyone who wasn't my family or Jade. It had felt like the right thing to do at the time but when I thought about it later, I wondered why we had hugged. It wasn't that it felt strange because we were both boys but it just felt strange to hug someone who I didn't have to. It was like Seifer trusting me.

Looking at the time, I realised that we had been gone too long for a simple scouting mission and, what was more, it was time for dinner. We set off back to the common room together, talking about random things. All the time, I thought about what a strong person Seifer had grown into. I was so preoccupied that I didn't hear what he said as we arrived outside the common room.

"What?" I asked, startled out of my stupor.

Seifer laughed. "I was saying that it was a relief to get all that off my chest. It's hard keeping secrets, although I hope you're not gonna tell anyone."

"Oh," I said, relieved for some reason, "no, I won't."

"Good," he said, nodding. Then he added, "But you have no idea how good telling my secret feels like. You should try it."

I stared at him. "What do you mean?" I asked carefully.

He shook his head at me. "I'm not stupid you know. None of us are."

"What do you mean?" I repeated.

He sighed and clapped me on the shoulder. "It's obvious that you have a secret. Something you don't want us to know. And, assuming I've got this right, it's something about you, more dangerous than mine." He paused. "Zac, sooner or later, you'll have to tell us. If anyone finds out the hard way, I think you'll be in more trouble than you can handle."

I stared at him dumbly. "I don't have a secret," I denied

He shook his head. "Think about it," he advised, before heading off into the common room.

I could only watch. Had I let my guard down that much? I followed him into the common room, resolving to keep a tighter watch over what I did and said.


	18. Revenge in Note Form

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter at all.

Geth342: This is my longest and most random chapter yet. I thought it might be nice to take a break from all the angsty stuff so i added this. Told you my update would be longer- i was doing this and marking past math papers at the same time so yeah...

The next chapter, i'm a bit thin on the ground for idea i have to say. I know what's going to happen for the next few chapters after it but i want to set a chapter between them. In other words- a possible longer update time.

Anyway, i hope y'all enjoy and please read and review. (If i never update again, then something went wrong in my chemistry prac and the details aren't too pretty)

Chapter 18: Revenge in Note Form.

We claimed to have been waylaid by some Ravenclaws looking for revenge which was why we had taken so long. People were clearly suspicious but no one said a word and so we headed to dinner. No one asked for my plan either, which was a good thing because I didn't have one.

By early April, I still didn't have one. I was a bit preoccupied with studying for my OWLS and for the first time, the plan had taken a back seat to other activities. In a way, it was strange that I was spending all my time concentrating on something else. Every night, I dreamt of stupid things like the levitation charm, Vampires and Mandrakes. Every spare moment that I had, I murmured forgotten history, the words to some charm, or the effects of a potion. Everyone else was the same. There was no escaping the fact that these exams could change my life.

But one day, in the library, an idea hit me. A way to get revenge- it was perfect.

I had been sitting with Seifer and Tahir when we heard some seventh years complaining about their NEWTS. One girl mentioned that she had spent about twenty hours making revision notes and it was stupid because after two months, she would be throwing them out. Tahir and Seifer got on with their work but her words had triggered something in me. I started to think about it, planning it all out in my mind until-

"Oi!"

"Ouch." Seifer had just lobbed something at my head. I looked down. A quill. "What?" I snapped.

"What did Longbottom say the Mandrake leaves did again?" Seifer asked, smiling innocently. I glared.

"Why did you have to throw your quill, just for that?" I demanded, rubbing the spot where the quill had hit me.

Tahir sniggered. "Because you didn't respond to calling, that's why. You were in some sort of trance."

"Well what's wrong with poking?" I grumbled and then added, "Mandrake leaves can cure paralysis."

The other two mumbled their thanks and went back to writing their notes. After a moment, I did too, smiling. When a plan forms in my mind, I always smile. Because there is nothing better than outsmarting your enemy and knowing that they can't do a thing about it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

For the plan, I needed a lot of people.

I gathered everyone from fifth year up, to me in the common room. Before I started explaining the plan, I gave a warning.

"This is a strange plan. But if it works then everyone targeted will learn a long lesson. I warn you now. It's big- all the other houses will be affected and the chances of being caught are high. If you don't want to take part, speak now and leave. But you won't find out what's going on. This is being done on a need to know basis. Anyone who wants to leave?"

No one moved. Eventually Reaver spoke up. "We're all waiting for your plan Carew. Before we die of old age preferably." That raised a laugh. I smiled.

"Fair enough. In that case, this is what we do."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The plan was set and, in theory, it was actually quite simple. Each year had been assigned a different house and was told to target their own year. All we had to do was find a way of destroying people's revision notes in a series of 'accidents' or 'mysterious circumstances'. The notes that they had worked so hard on, which they would then have no choice but to rewrite them. It would take them ages and they would resent it.

Seventh year, with Reaver as the leader, had been given the Gryffindors as they were the hardest of the houses to prank. The sixth years, led by Luke Borallis- one of the boys from the Quidditch robe prank- had been given the Hufflepuffs for two reasons. The first was that I sorely wanted revenge on the Ravenclaws, specifically Grant. The second reason was something that I would not admit to anyone. Not even to myself.

I didn't want to hurt Tammy.

If my year had the Hufflepuffs, we would have had an easier job but that would have meant that someone would have to get rid of Tammy's revision and the idea of doing that made me feel guilty. So I gave us the Ravenclaws instead.

On the day, we decided that a good idea would be to start in Herbology which we had first lesson. Longbottom forced us to work in assigned pairs, as usual, and although I was placed with Angela, and a few others were placed with house mates, Adam was placed with Colin Abin and Tanya was placed with a girl called Soraya Akashi. I wasn't overly confident about their abilities as they were both brash and temperamental but I gritted my teeth and started working.

About one third into the lesson, as we were working with some bulbs, I heard a shout.

"Watch where you're dumping that!" A girl screamed. Everyone turned to look, even Longbottom.

Akashi's bag was covered in super-strength weed killer which had been dropped, I guessed, by Tanya who was trying her best to look apologetic. Sadly, Akashi didn't exactly buy it and was still shouting at the red head as she took her work out of her bag. I saw Tanya's eyes light up as she saw some revision notes. But, before I could see the outcome, Longbottom told us all to go back to work. Grudgingly, I picked up our bottle of weed killer as Angela held the pot still and poured it in far more carefully than Tanya had d-

"HOW COULD YOU?"

My hand jerked and some of the weed killer went onto Angela. I stared at her hand, face white.

"Uh…sir?" I shouted somewhat meekly, "I think Angela's hand is in danger."

Poor Professor Longbottom. He didn't know which tragedy to sort out- the beginning of a fight between Akashi and Tanya, or the liquid on Angela's hand, and so he dithered for a moment. I scowled. I hate people who can't make their mind up and prioritise- what would be worse? A small fight or the loss of someone's hand?

After several long seconds, Longbottom finally told the girls to be quiet and walked over to Angela whose hand was starting to give off smoke. He promptly muttered a few charms and then sent her to the Hospital Wing to get it washed properly. He turned to me and looked like he was about to say something when another round of shouting broke out behind him.

It transpired that Tanya had 'accidently' dropped her trowel- covered with this weed killer- on the notes and, when Akashi had started shouting at her, had 'accidently' knocked them off the table and then 'accidently' trod on them, making them ruined. Understandably, Akashi was not overly pleased about this and was attempting to curse my housemate whilst Grant and another girl restrained her. It was quite amusing to watch but I forced myself to keep a straight face. I didn't want to get a detention.

Adam, however, did not appear to follow my policy and started chuckling. His partner, Abin, began to shout at him as well. I stood by Jake and Florrie and watched with curiosity- I knew from past experience that attempting to stop Adam when he was angry was painful. Longbottom tried to sort out the two girls whilst Abin lunged at Adam. Adam dodged and shouted something. Abin's face turned an interesting shade of red but his friends told him not to fuss. Then Adam shouted another insult. I began to wonder just why my friend was keen to keep this argument going.

Longbottom finally managed to stop Akashi from sticking a trowel into Tanya but just as he did this, Adam, infuriated by something Abin had said, picked up Abin's bag and cast _Diffindo_ into the contents, then at the bag for good measure. I tried not to laugh- the look on the Ravenclaw's face was hysterical: he was angry, stunned and surprised at the same time. He glanced at the remains of his belongings wordlessly.

Suddenly, he looked up, his face bright red and raised his wand to curse Adam. At that exact moment, Longbottom turned around and caught him.

"Just what do you think you're doing Mr. Abin?" He shouted.

Abin looked at him. "N-nothing sir."

"Then why were you about to curse Mr. Etasyl?" The teacher sounded reasonable but anyone could tell that he was furious. This had been by far, the most exciting Herbology lesson for a long time but evidently Longbottom didn't like it. Abin stammered out his reply, explaining the loss of his bag and his revision notes.

Revision notes.

I looked at Adam and caught his eye. He smirked and mouthed: _two down, eight to go._ I grinned back swiftly and then wiped the smile from my face. From the looks of things, Adam at least would be getting detention. I didn't particularly want to join him.

By the time everyone had calmed down, it was nearly time for the bell and what was more, I couldn't complete the work because Angela was still in the Hospital Wing so we were all somewhat relieved when we left to go to Transfiguration.

As soon as we were far away from the greenhouses, we all started laughing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I had to admit, I was impressed. I didn't think it would occur to Adam that a good way to innocently destroy stuff was if he was in a rage from something Abin had said. Clearly, I had underestimated him.

Within the next three days, I learnt that the seventh years had destroyed four Gryffindor notes and the sixth years had destroyed five Hufflepuff notes. It was a good start. We sat around one of the old tables discussing possible plans for the next few days- tricking people, getting into fights or simply sneakily destroying the notes. For the first time in months, I felt like a proper leader. I could see why the Dark Lord had risen- this feeling of power was intoxicating but my advantage was that I knew where the uncrossable line was. He treated his servants as tools. I would treat mine better and perhaps be greater than the Dark Lord one day. The idea was very appealing.

Jake and Jade, working together, were the next two to succeed. Jake went for the easy option of tripping one of the boys up and then helping him up whilst Jade rummaged in his bag and sneaked the notes out. Later that day, Jade shot a tickling jinx at one of the girls whilst Jake repeated the stealing notes favour for her. As they reported this to me, although it hurt me to think it, I had to admit that they made a good team.

The next day, Simon reported that the Ravenclaws were getting suspicious again but this time they weren't alone- other houses had mentioned the lack of notes. Alwyn had sworn that he would kill me for this but then, to everyone's surprise, Grant had told him to stop assuming everything was me. They had gotten into an argument with each other and now the seventh years refused to speak to her. I only grunted when I heard this. I didn't much care that the girl had finally started acquiring finer feelings- she was the same as the day I had met her. Only looking to help herself. Really, it was a surprise that she hadn't become a Slytherin.

Still, although the report was not a huge shock, it was a nuisance. It meant that for the remaining targets, we would have to be more subtle- no more tripping people up for one thing. In between the waves of revision, I pondered new ways to destroy notes. If nothing else, it was an interesting way to pass the minutes between different subjects.

Zoë, Angela and Florrie managed to destroy some more in a rather interesting fashion. At dinner, one evening, they convinced some second year boys to start a food fight. One boy promptly threw some trifle at a nearby Gryffindor who retaliated by throwing some cake at the boy who ducked and laughed as it hit a Hufflepuff. Within minutes, the hall was in chaos and the teachers were struggling to control it. As we battled it out with food, working in teams against other people- I covered Seifer's back, he covered mine, Jake did the same for Tahir and so on- the three girls snuck through hoards of people and under tables, over to where a few of Abin's friends sat and quickly set fire to three new bags. Luckily, no one caught them and what was more, although the second years were punished for starting the food fight, no one could link the burnt out work with Angela, Florrie and Zoë. I even heard one of the girls whose work had been destroyed complain bitterly to a Hufflepuff that she had no way of finding out who had done it because everyone had been too preoccupied. It was a beautifully executed plan. I could only hope that I could do better.

Sadly, it also meant that the girls had beaten us- every girl in fifth year had managed to succeed but only Adam and Jake had managed it from the boys. Seifer, Tahir and myself would need to work hard and, with each passing victory it would be harder. Borallis had already lost twenty points and been given detention when Ramik had caught him with a Hufflepuff's astronomy notes. Students were noticing but no one knew quite who was being targeted- the different year groups had confused everyone.

I did briefly ask Seifer whether he could convince his sister to get some of the notes but he glared at me and informed me that if I could leave Serena out of this he'd be so much happier. I tried to point out that it was only a suggestion but he stalked off, annoyed. I never asked him again. Clearly family was still a taboo subject.

As the days turned into weeks, it became clear that this was one of my slowest moving plans ever. A huge amount had been done, but according to reports, there were still four Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs and, of course, three Ravenclaws left. To my satisfaction however, Grant was one of the Ravenclaws. I had already made it clear that she was my target but in hectic situations such as the food fight, people are liable to forget.

Tahir and Seifer pulled off the next two attacks with surprising ease. The answer to their problem, they decided, was simple. The last two Ravenclaws who were not Grant were a boy and a girl who by coincidence, were both on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. After realising this, both boys worked on a plan for a few days in between revision and on the assigned day left the Common Room with secretive smiles on their faces. No matter how much we asked, they would not tell us where they were going.

Whilst the Ravenclaw team practiced, Tahir snuck into Bell's office and grabbed a spare set of keys- Bell was on the Quidditch Pitch, subbing in for a beater who had the flu or something. Then the pair went to the Ravenclaw changing rooms where they spent a long twenty minutes trying to find the right key.

Here was where their stories differed. Seifer said that someone came in whilst they were looking for the bags and that he had fought them off whilst Tahir had destroyed the notes. Then they had left a few stink pellets around and left the room whilst some of the Ravenclaws ran back in and blasted them. Tahir maintained that a) no one had come into the room, b) all Seifer had done was to leave the stink pellets and more to the point, c) Tahir had done all the work. Reading between the two stories I decided that no Ravenclaws had entered the changing rooms, Seifer had been on lookout and had left the stink pellets. It was funny. Although my Slytherins were efficient workers, it was hard to get the right story sometimes as each report inevitably included the speaker doing many heroic, brave and brilliant things. And more often than not, anyone else included in this report had done things wrong and nearly messed the whole operation up only to be saved at the last minute by the speaker. If you listened to the way Slytherin went on, you would have thought that it was a House full of Superheroes.

Of curse, this new development meant that I was the only fifth year who had not gotten a Ravenclaw. I spent the night tossing and turning as I tried to think up a good plan. But as it turned out, I needn't have worried- my opportunity came the next morning.

It was a Friday morning, just one week before the exams were due to begin, and we were sat at the table eating breakfast and waiting for the post. I was watching out of the corner of my eye for Achilles- I was expecting arrangements of when to visit my sister (when she was born obviously) from my parents any day- when a giant black owl landed in front of my plate. I ignored it, assuming it was for someone else. I usually only got post from my parents so I tended to ignore the hosts of owls with sweets and other presents for my friends. Though, whilst I waited for the owl to move, it occurred to me that Seifer hardly ever got post either. It wasn't something I had noticed before he told me his secret but now I noticed. It was strange to think about how much had slipped under my nose. Just as I was considering this and biting into a piece of toast, the bird pecked me. I looked up and found a scroll thrust into my face. As soon as I picked it up, the bird flew off. Curious, I opened it and began to read.

_Zac Carew,_

_I need to talk to you about that day I set you up. Please. Tonight, at seven o'clock by the Room of Requirement. _

_I'll understand if you don't turn up._

_Michelle Grant, Ravenclaw House._

It took me a few seconds to work out who 'Michelle' was. I couldn't remember the last time I had heard her referred to as that. My first thought was to reject it but then an idea came. I waited until Herbology and then sent a cautious reply to her.

_Grant._

_About your letter. How do I know this isn't another trap? If you can prove it then I might come._

_Carew._

A few minutes later, I got one back.

_Zac,_

_Short of breaking into Chappell's office and downing a bottle of veritaserum, I can't prove that I'm not luring you into another trap. You'll have to trust me which will be hard, I know. I wouldn't trust me either. But you can bring your entire house and every professor with you if you want. I'm not lying._

_I'm not going to lure you into another trap._

_Michelle._

I read the note silently and then looked up towards the girl. She caught my eye so I gave her a quick nod and then went back to listening to Longbottom drone on about the properties of some root which I would probably never touch after this year.

As the day went on, I secretly planned exactly how to get her notes. My idea was to check first that she had her bag and if so, keep her busy before the meeting so that she wouldn't put the notes away. The chances were that, this close to exams, she would work in the library before she came to meet me.

I quickly got word around to some of the younger kids to hold her up if she left the library before seven and to follow her if they couldn't

I also convinced Adam and Tahir to come with me as back up, just in case Grant was lying. They were both useful muscle and Tahir was cunning enough to assess the situation and stop Adam from doing anything brash.

Luckily, at five past seven, Grant turned up with her school bag. I had been standing there for fifteen minutes, having already sent Tahir and Adam to scout out surrounding corridors for Ravenclaw kidnappers or indeed, any kidnappers at all. By the time she arrived, it was clear that she had been telling the truth, unless the Ravenclaws were in the Room. That was why I had every pocket, sleeve and seam packed with practical jokes and Instant Peruvian Darkness Powder. I wasn't taking any chances.

She walked up to me and tried not to flinch as Adam and Tahir glared at her. Another reason that I had picked them was because out of the fifth years, they were easily the most imposing.

"Hi," she said breathlessly.

"You're late." This was Tahir, speaking in a menacing growl. Grant flicked her eyes towards him and the back at me.

"Yeah, sorry. I was busy doing some revision and lost track of time. I didn't mean to." She sounded sincere but I still raised an eyebrow. Adam cracked his knuckles loudly. To my amusement, she squirmed.

I decided to cut to the chase. "So, what did you want to see me about?"

Her eyes flicked nervously to my friends. "I was kinda hoping we could speak in private."

We sniggered. "Hey Zac," Adam said, turning to me, "you haven't gotten this freak pregnant have you?" This made him laugh even harder. Tahir shook his head as Grant blushed furiously.

I smirked. "I wouldn't dirty my hands with her. Give me some credit for a bit of class. Like, I don't know, a banshee or a hag. Anything better than _her_."

"A mudblood?" Tahir asked. I stiffened momentarily but swiftly regained my composure.

"No, I said better, not worse." I replied, laughing. I saw Grant look oddly at me so before she could say anything, I added: "So, where do you want to have your little discussion then?"

She gestured at the room. "In here."

I shook my head. "No way, not until I know there's no one in there."

She said I was being ridiculous but Tahir and Adam backed me up and after a few minutes arguing, we eventually decided that the four of us would go in and then, having checked that nothing bad was in there, Adam and Tahir would leave. It was a good plan and, two minutes later, I was waving goodbye to my friends and sitting in a chair. Grant sat opposite me.

We sat in silence for a minute, each studying the other. Eventually, I broke the silence.

"So, why have you made me come here if you're just going to stare at me?" I asked. Grant blushed. By the end of this evening, her face would probably be that colour permanently.

"I, uh…I, uh…I, uh…" She couldn't say anything else apart from 'I uh'.

I smirked. "Spit it out then." I wasn't going to be considerate towards her this time. Not after last time.

"I'm sorry." She blurted out. I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. Can I go?"

She stared at me. "Zac, don't you get it?" She asked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…well I did but…see, they said I should do it and I thought that you were like, horrible. But then you were so nice to me in the library that I started to have second thoughts. But before I could make a decision, it started and you left the library." She took a deep breath at the end of this. I just looked at her impassively.

A deep silence stretched between us. To my delight, I noticed that she was trying to look everywhere except at me. I was making her nervous. Good.

"Zac?" She asked tentatively.

I sneered at her. "What? Do you want the Nobel Peace Prize for having second thoughts or something? You tricked me and got me hurt. And you think that saying you had second thoughts solves it?" I finished this on an incredulous note. "You need a reality check Grant."

She looked at me oddly. "What's the Nobel Peace Prize?"

I swore under my breath. "Nothing. That's not the point. Anyway, if you're done, can I go?"

She shook her head. "You're not getting it," she said, clearly frustrated, "This has been eating up at me for ages. It's gotten so bad that I skipped one or two meals from loss of appetite and I've had trouble sleeping. In the end, I told Tammy all about it and she suggested I apologise to you. Please. Accept my apology." There was pleading in her eyes. I suspected that any longer and she would be down on bent knees.

"Why should I?" I snarled. For the first time, she looked angry.

"Look, there's not much else I can do. I thought you'd act like this but Tammy said I should give you a chance. I thought that guy she always sees - who I thought I saw in the library - was a fake. If anyone's the mudblood around here, it's you."

I smirked. "Now now, there's no need to get personal." I admonished. She glared at me.

"I notice you haven't told your friends then. I could cut you a deal. You forgive me and I won't say a word." She was starting to look desperate. I shrugged.

"You can if you want to break your promise, and if you think they'll believe you. I thought what family I had didn't bother you." This was an empty threat. There was no way I could let her tell them.

She shook her head. "It doesn't. Look Zac, I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have even thought it. But…well…" She trailed off sadly.

I stood up. "I'll think about," I lied as I began to walk away. Before I got to the door, she called out.

"Wait!"

I spun around. "What now?" I asked impatiently. She fumbled around in her bag for a moment and then threw something at me. I caught it. It was soft and black. "What the hell?" I muttered as I inspected it.

"It's your robe, cleaned and everything. I meant to give it back to you but I never had the opportunity." She looked away. "You can go now, if you want."

I looked at the robe. "Thanks. Well…see ya." I muttered and then headed towards the door. Before I opened it, I quickly dug my hand into my pocket, took out a box and opened it, saying a few words.

Instantly, around me, darkness set in. I smirked. I could see for a few metres but Grant couldn't. Perfect. I quickly opened and closed the door to make it seem as though I had gone and then, ignoring her whimpering, I walked towards my victim's bag, searched through it and found some neatly written notes. With a savage smile, I grabbed them and then ran out of the room and to the dungeons as quickly as possible.

Once there, I went to our dorm. I knew the other boys wouldn't be there because they were sitting in the Common Room having a deep discussion on the three types of switching spell. Settling on my bed, I put my robe down and took out the notes.

I put my wand to them and thought.

I remembered that Grant was keeping my secret.

I remembered that she had threatened to betray me.

I remembered that Tammy liked her.

I remembered that Tammy also liked Travis, whom I despised.

I remembered how desperately she wanted forgiveness.

I remembered the scar on my stomach from one of the spells.

I remembered her fair view on Death Eaters.

I remembered how quick she was to condemn me.

I remembered her sticking up for me.

I remembered my oath to make her regret it.

I remembered the plan.

I remembered a lot of things. And suddenly, my decision was clear. Something I would not regret at all.

I smiled cruelly as I said _"Incendio"._


	19. The Examiner

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Geth342: You'll be pleased to know that after this, i won't have writer's block because i know almost exactly what's going to happen. The next chapter will signify the beginning of the end of this story- there will be roughly 25 chapers in all.

This chapter is...not that great actually... 10 points to anyone who can guess, from this chapter, the two things that happened to me in my chemistry practical.

Anyway, i hope you enjoy and please read and review.

Chapter 19: The Examiner

All too quickly, exam period fell upon us. By this point the only remaining target was Darren Trott, otherwise known as Kisser boy. Even after four years, I had not forgotten my nickname for him although I wasn't overly sure as to exactly why I called him that but the vague details stuck in my head. These days, Kisser was a difficult target and in the end, I told the girl to stop trying as she had more important things to do and it was a near perfect job. I said this very kindly and tried not to laugh as she looked stricken at being the only one who failed. After the incident with Grant, my cruel streak seemed to be coming back.

The day after that, at dinner, we saw the examiners walk into the hall. I wouldn't have said much but people around the hall were whispering excitedly 'Oh look, there's Ernie Macmillan. I can't believe he's here' etc. After ten minutes of this, I sorely wanted to tell them to be less excited- he might have been an old war hero but this was the man who could make us lose our futures. He wasn't someone I wanted to be excited about. Instead, I carried on eating until Jake nudged me, making me choke on some steak.

"What?" I gasped, once Seifer had whacked my back or 'saved my life' (as he liked to put it).

Jake pointed to a tall black man. "It's Blaise Zabini. It's really him." He was as excited as the rest of the hall was about Macmillan.

I glanced over at the man in question and then went back to eating. "That's nice." I said conversationally, in between bites.

Jake shook his head. "You don't get it, do you?" He turned to the others. "Zac here just doesn't get it. What are we gonna do with him?"

"I do get it," I replied, a little stung. "He's an examiner and is the same age as Hufflepuff boy over there. Big whoop." I went back to eating my dinner.

Tahir shook his head. "No, that's not it. Zac, do you ever read the papers?"

"Yeah."

"Then you know that Zabini is the first Slytherin from Harry Potter's generation to be appointed as an examiner in this school after the war. His daughter is the first Slytherin Governor. It's a really big breakthrough to forgiving all the Death Eaters." His voice was full of awe.

I had to admit, I hadn't known that. I looked around. "So why are we the only ones happy about it?" I queried.

Seifer shrugged. "People weren't too happy. They said Zabini was friends with Malfoy and just bought his way to power, like all old Slytherin families do. They didn't realise that he was put through extra hard tests just to prove that he would be an impartial judge to everyone- no favouring Slytherins, no prejudice against muggle borns, that sort of thing. A lot of people aren't happy."

"Which is dumb because that bloody war was 35 years ago. If he was going to murder us all, I think he would have done it by now." Jake chipped in. We all chuckled. I found myself looking at Zabini with a newfound respect. He was proof that Slytherins could make it. It was a pity that instead of being able to talk to him, he would be marking me down for every little mistake I made in the next few weeks.

We didn't talk much after that. Instead, we finished dinner and promptly went back to our revision. That was all I ever seemed to do.

Monday came far too quickly in my opinion and along with it, our Charms practical in the morning. After breakfast, we went to the hall and waited as Longbottom called out surnames. Annoyingly, I would be among the first to go in so I couldn't watch people screw up or hope that the examiners would be cheered up by what they saw.

"Abin, Adams, Akashi, Barnes, Brown" Longbottom called out. The three boys and two girls walked nervously into the hall with shouts of good luck from their friends. My fellow house mates were muttering incantations under their breaths. I was too nervous. If I failed here, where would I go? I would have to go back to the Muggle world and get all sorts of useless qualifications and lead a life without magic and-

"Carew, Charles, Daniels, Darby, DeKilwar." Longbottom intoned. I jumped and then shakily made my way into the hall, ignoring the mutters of good luck from my mates. I didn't even wait for Tanya.

Professor Ramik instructed me to go over to Macmillan which I promptly did. The man smiled as I walked in front of him.

"Right, Zac Carew I believe. Yes?"

"Yes sir."

"Perfect. Now, could you levitate this feather for me?" He sounded quite pompous but it wasn't the time to start insulting people about their voices. I took my wand out and muttered the charm with the proper swish and flick. As I did, a vague image came into my head- me sitting at a table with a certain redhead, laughing about buffaloes or something strange like that. It was certainly an odd time to remember that.

Overall, the exam didn't go too badly. I did have a bit of a bad incident when I was asked to sever a piece of rope without using sharp instruments (which seemed like a stupid thing to say because it wasn't as though I had a pair of scissors with me) and instead of cutting the rope, I turned it pink with the added side effect that no matter where I moved my wand, the rope tried to follow. Macmillan however, seemed to see the funny side in the incident and was surprisingly nice, although I knew he had marked me down for it. I did have a bit of trouble with some of the more advanced charms but not huge problems- a frog being shrunk to one centimetre too big, that sort of thing. But when I left the room, I was reasonably happy; especially as charms was one of my worst subjects.

Tanya came out just after I did. I felt better about the rope incident after she told me that her frog, instead of shrinking just kept laughing. Over and over. And she wasn't entirely sure how she did it. I relaxed a bit after that – I guessed everyone lost their heads a bit in exams.

Adam came out next followed closely by Jade. Both had their own humorous tales to tell not just about themselves but about other things they had seen. The best, they said, was one boy who, when asked to sever his rope, had accidently cut the examiner instead. The woman had not been amused and the boy had burst into tears. I couldn't help laughing. I would never cry in an exam- that was for fools.

Tahir was the next one out. By this point, we'd decided to wait a bit further down in the hall in order to prevent being squashed. Around us, people chattered nervously about how well they thought they'd done. Seifer and Zoë arrived about twenty minutes later followed by Angela. Angela had had Zabini but all she said was that his expression hadn't changed once throughout her exam. I was a little disappointed. The great Zabini didn't even deign to smile.

After this, Adam declared that he was hungry and wanted to go back to the Common Room. The others agreed but I said that I would wait for Jake and Florrie. Jade also decided to stay with me, and we talked mindlessly whilst waiting.

Suddenly, Jade said, "Are you sure you don't wanna get something to eat Zac? I can wait." I was a bit surprised and was about to decline in order to stop her little plan which she obviously had forming when I spotted someone. I shrugged.

"Um…yeah, sure. See ya later Jade." I said and then ran after the person. "Tammy!" I called when I was out of Jade's earshot, and when nobody was around. "Tammy, wait up."

She didn't wait up. I had had a sudden urge to talk to her after the exam and when she came out, I had to run after her. Not because I wanted to talk to her but because she looked very upset. For some reason, I wanted to help her.

She still wouldn't stop so I ran up behind her.

"Tammy, what's wrong?" I asked.

She kept walking. "Leave me alone." She replied curtly.

That stung. She never talked to me like that … she never talked like that to anyone. I ran round in front of her. She tried to sidestep so I caught her around the waist. "Tammy, what's the matter?" I asked again.

"Nothing." She replied, unsuccessfully hiding a sob. She tried to wriggle out of my hold. I held her tighter. Luckily, no one else was walking down this way.

"Sure," I replied sarcastically, "because you often walk around with tears in your eyes, a red face and sobbing when absolutely nothing is wrong."

She glared at me. "Go away Carew," she snapped. "Are you gonna be mean to me like everyone else?"

I knew she meant people I was mean to but I still smirked and said, "what, is it a requirement that your friends have to be mean to you? Because I'd rather not."

She stopped struggling. "Friends?" She asked, with tears still falling down her cheeks.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, friends. I am your friend you know. Now what's bugging you?"

She didn't say anything for a moment. Then: "Do you know that's the first time you've said that to me?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't count how many times I say things to people. Besides, I must have said it at some point. Now will you _please_ tell me what's wrong?"

She pulled me into an empty classroom and finally told me.

"I had that man, Blaise Zabini, as my examiner," she explained, "and he just sat there without changing his expression once. He only spoke to tell me what to do." She stopped. I shrugged.

"He did the same thing to Angela. If that's all you're worried about, I'd say you're fine."

She shook her head. "No, that's not it. Nothing went right. Nothing. It was like, whatever I did didn't work. And all the time he kept staring and writing. I mean, I shrunk my frog and did some stuff right but then my mushroom started dancing instead of turning blue, and my ferret went into a hole instead of levitating and-"

"Don't worry so much," I replied. "It all seems bad but I'm sure it went fine." On impulse, I gave her a hug. To my surprise, she hugged back.

"Thanks Zac," she said, sniffing.

I smiled back. "No problem. I mean, everyone screwed up in some way." I said and then launched into my story about the rope, with exaggerations. By the end she was laughing so much that I was sure she had forgotten he dancing mushroom. I didn't know why, but this made me feel very happy.

It was only when I got back to the common room that I realised that I hadn't even felt like being mean for the whole time I had been with her. And what was more, I had no problem with that.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The rest of the exams did not progress too badly. After the charms practical exam, I had theory which went better than I expected although I had the distinctive feeling that I had actually written a curse for changing the shape of rats ears instead of a cheering charm. The one thing that did amuse me was that we were not allowed to have our wands anywhere near us in case we accidently cursed our neighbours.

That evening, the evening of the 12th May, I received an owl from my parents telling me that my little sister had been born early in the morning. They explained that my mother had been in labour for about fifteen hours but they hadn't wanted to distract me from exams until she was actually born. I read the letter in secret but did not tell anyone except for Seifer about Holly. I wanted her to be my secret for a little while longer. I did, however, sit with a crazy grin on my face for the rest of the evening. Ever since I had found out that my mum was pregnant, the idea of having a little sister had slowly grown on me and now I was excited.

After the next few practicals, I made it a point to wait for Tammy with Jade- every time I saw her leave, I would find an excuse to leave Jade and catch up with her about how the exam went. The first time I saw her after my sister was born, I told her almost straight away. She didn't mention me choosing her name but when we left, she was smiling just as much as I was.

None of her exams seemed to be as bad as Charms and even her blunder in Transfiguration didn't upset her as much. At the end of these little meetings, Tammy always hugged me as a way of goodbye. I didn't mind.

I had Zabini as my examiner for Transfiguration. Just as everyone had said, he spoke only to tell me what to do- he did not give me a single word of criticism or praise, nor did his expression change throughout the exam. I tried not to be put off by this but I think it got to me a bit because my last spell wasn't as good as it could have been. However, as I had been well prepared for his frosty silence, I thought I coped quite well. Better than Tammy or Angela at any rate.

In fact, the only thing that changed at all was on the night before the History of Magic exam. Adam and I were walking through the halls. Having just bargained a History book from the library, we were feeling quite pleased with ourselves until we ran into the Gryffindors.

There were three fifth years and two sixth years- all brawny boys. Among them, I spotted Veraw and Charles. Veraw, as usual, seemed to have murder in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He spat.

I looked at Adam and then back at Veraw. "Not that it's any of your business," I drawled, "but we're going back to our Common Room."

"A likely story." The brute sneered.

Adam shrugged. "Little rats like you never believe the truth."

A sixth year I didn't know swaggered in front of us. "Sure, like it wasn't Carew here who levitated Shelly before your potions exam." The rest of the group murmured agreement. I couldn't help smirking.

"Can you _prove_ it was me?" I asked innocently. "I didn't utter a word."

The sixth year snarled. "You as good as admitted it, right then."

I looked at Adam. "Did I?" I enquired.

"Nope." He replied cheerfully. "It would have been a lie if you had." We sniggered.

"Look, I know you did it," Veraw began.

Adam interrupted. "Look scum, clearly you think you can get through the exam tomorrow with your bloody courage. Good for you. We're going to study a bit more so sod off." He finished this with a rude hand gesture. It wasn't the most eloquent way of phrasing it but it had been more or less what I was thinking and seemed to portray the message very well. Sadly, the Gryffindors did not quite agree with my feelings on the subject; they glared at us and with loud shouts, drew their wands out. This was the moment that I decided that another route to the Common Room would be a good idea. Dragging Adam, I turned away and began to sprint through corridors in an attempt to find a second set of stairs. Not very brave, but better than being cursed into oblivion.

I was beginning to panic because wherever I ran, I just turned into more corridors. Then I turned right at a fork instead of left, having momentarily lost my head and before I knew it-

"Dead end boys," someone drawled. "How are you planning on getting out of this?"

It was a good question which I didn't have an answer to. I glanced at Adam who looked more or less as I felt. I smirked, trying to be casual.

"Well, I was thinking of using my brains but I thought that would be unfair to you, seeing how you haven't got any." I replied. It certainly wasn't the smartest thing in the world to say but it looked like we were going to end up in the Hospital Wing and at least this way, I could enjoy myself first.

It did the job in annoying them. Charles' face turned red. Veraw's turned purple. He held his wand in front of him and then said, in a surprisingly calm voice: "I'm going to enjoy this."

I closed my eyes and braced myself for whatever spell I was going to be hit with. I _wasn't_ expecting a new voice to ask just what the boys thought they were doing. And I wasn't expecting the Gryffindorks to respond by stammering Zabini's name. My eyes flew open again, and I beheld the tall impassive man who struck fear into every student.

"I am aware of my name thank you," he was saying coldly, "I wanted to know why you were about to curse two students."

The boys looked at each other and didn't reply. Adam was glaring at Zabini for some strange reason. I took it upon myself to reply. "They were angry because I accidently tripped Veraw up." I lied. I couldn't say that they were angry because they thought I had levitated Grant. I had levitated Grant so they were right to be annoyed, but this fact was very much beside the point.

Zabini inspected me for a moment. "Thank you." He said in a monotone. "Now, if you Gryffindors would like to leave then I don't think a word with Professor Longbottom will be necessary." The boys didn't need any prompting- they left as quickly as they could. I had a sinking feeling that Zabini had kept us back for something horrible.

"It really was an accident sir," I said, trying to get in his good books.

He regarded me and then turned to Adam. "And what do you think Mr Etasyl?" He enquired. Adam refused to say anything, so Zabini continued. "Do you think that this was all a misunderstanding?"

Adam looked up. "It was until that scum started chasing us." He muttered sullenly. "They were going to kill us."

Zabini raised one eyebrow. It was the first time that I had seen any expression on his face at all. Then, as I thought it, it occurred to me that he knew Adam's surname- but Adam had never had him as an examiner. More to the point, I had had him as an examiner and he clearly didn't know my name. I nearly asked them how they knew each other but then changed my mind. It would be easier to see how it panned out.

"Kill you?" Zabini asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

Adam shrugged. "Yeah, well, not actually kill us…you wouldn't understand." He said in his sullen voice. I tried not to gape at him. Surely insulting your examiner wasn't a bright thing to do? I knew Adam wasn't the smartest person out there but still…it didn't make sense.

To my surprise, Zabini smiled. It was not much of a smile but it was still there. "And how is young Nicholas these days, Adam?" He said, with a friendly tone in his voice. My face was having a hard job staying impassive, so when Adam would not reply, I decided to butt in.

"Excuse me," I said politely, trying not to laugh as they jumped- apparently they had forgotten me- "but do you two know each other or something?"

At the same time that Adam shook his head, Zabini nodded. "Adam here is my great-nephew, although I haven't seen him for eight years now. It's the reason why I've never presided over any exam of his." He moved to put a hand on the stocky boy's shoulder as he said this, but Adam dodged. I saw the dark hand fall limply back.

"Oh." I said, for lack of anything else to say. It wasn't a shock exactly, but this was something that Adam hadn't mentioned. I looked at him. "How come you never said anything?" I asked curiously.

Adam shrugged. It was becoming his favourite gesture. "No one asked."

"Right…" I said uncertainly, "Because the first thing that came into my mind when I saw Mr. Zabini was 'I wonder if he's related to Adam?'" I finished this sarcastically. My friend didn't say anything but Zabini laughed. I wondered if this was what he was really like, when he wasn't examining us.

"What Adam means…um…" He looked at me pointedly. I caught on.

"Zac."

"Thank you. What Adam means, Zac, is that our families are very much separate. His grandmother was my mother's sister, but they did not get on and once grown, had very little to do with each other. I met my cousin only when I was an adult with a job and a wife. I have met Adam a few times but our families do not generally mix. I was unaware that he was even doing his OWLs when I applied for this job."

"Oh, okay." I thought for a moment and then added, "I think it's really cool that they let you become an examiner and that you got something out of life."

"Suck-up." Adam muttered. I resisted the urge to kick him- for once, I was being serious. It was irritating. Not everything I did had an ulterior motive.

Zabini ignored him. "Thank you Zac. I admit, I am luckier than others in my year. Some were never allowed a job." He shook his head and sighed. "I hope you understand how lucky you are, growing up now when people know better. For people like Theodore Nott, they'll never get to experience that."

The name Nott seemed familiar to me. I racked my memory for a moment and then it occurred to me. "Wasn't Nott a Death Eater?" I asked.

There is nothing quite as scary as having a tall, muscular man who is a master of magic glaring down at you. I tried not to squirm. "Are you thinking of the father," He asked in his cold voice, "or the son?"

My mind went blank so I was grateful when Adam interrupted. "He means Elias Nott, don't you Zac?" I nodded. "We've got History of Magic tomorrow," he explained, "so he's trying to remember all these facts."

I had no idea why Adam was saving me but somehow I doubted that it was out of the goodness of his heart. Out of all my friends, Adam was the one I wasn't close to. However, Zabini accepted this explanation and said in his friendly voice: "Just don't do what Harry Potter did in ours."

We both looked at him then. "What did he do?" Adam asked eagerly.

Zabini chuckled. "Collapsed halfway through. I hear he failed because of that." We laughed. "How many exams do you have left boys?"

I thought for a moment. "About five sir….yeah, they finish four days after my birthday."

Adam rolled his eyes. I never failed to mention my birthday to people. It was the one day which was all about me, and it was nice to have. Besides, sixteen was quite a big age to be coming up to and the only downside was that I would have to spend it doing exams. At least the next day was a Friday- I had already declared that I would be spending that evening doing nothing.

"And when is your birthday?" Zabini enquired. Beside me, Adam groaned.

"29th May sir," I replied and then looked at my watch. "Flipping heck Ad, we should go back." Adam looked at his watch and nodded. Zabini smiled.

"Very well then boys. Try not to get into fights with the Gryffindors and good luck with the rest of your exams. And happy birthday for Thursday, Zac." With that he strolled off, his face back to its usual impassive cast. We walked out of the dead end and in the opposite direction. As soon as we had gone down to the next floor, Adam stopped. I kept walking.

"Zac." He called. I stopped and turned.

"You knocked?" I asked sarcastically. He opened his mouth and closed it, like a pathetically gasping fish. I was about to turn away when he blurted out: "Don't tell anyone about him."

I shook my head. "What, about your great-uncle? Why not?"

"Because I don't want people knowing."

"Why not?" I asked again. "You have a great advantage there. Why don't you use it? It's pretty unslytherin-like."

Adam looked at me. "Since when did you like the house ideas?" He asked.

I pulled a face. "Since never. But you're always going on about them. Anyway," I said by way of changing the subject, "I won't tell anyone. Okay?"

Adam nodded and we set off back. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. What was it with people having secrets about their families and when they decided to spill them, they had to spill them to me? Why couldn't someone tell everyone their secret, not have it about their family and not have me around when they did it? I was beginning to feel like some sort of Secret Keeper.

They say that you should be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it. I wish now, that I had known that then. It could have saved me.


	20. Midnight Talks

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form

Geth342: I was a bit sad when i didn't get any reviews but then again, considering the quality of that last chapter, i probably deserved it. Hopefully this chapter is better. Like i said, this is the beginning of the end of the story but don't worry. There will be action filled parts.

In the last chapter, i changed the day of Zac's birthday. I don't know if anyone noticed but if Holly was born on Monday 12th May, then Zac's birthday- 29th May- had to be on a Thursday, not a Friday like i said. If my story came up as updated to anyone, that was why.

This chapter is dedicated to sarenelsoria who has reviewed and spent some time telling me about American culture which was really interesting :)

Anyhow, i hope you enjoy and please read and review. And i should warn you, i'm pretty bad at scenes like the one towards the end.

Chapter 20: Midnight Talks

On the day that our exams finished, we held a party in the Common Room for everyone in our house, even the Seventh years that still had NEWTs. It was a double celebration as we had been too busy to celebrate my sixteenth birthday at the end of May, so I was the 'guest of honour'.

In all honesty, I don't remember too much about that night because of the amount of smuggled Firewhisky I consumed. I blamed Reaver, who was the one who had gotten hold of it. My only consolation was that when I woke up the next morning with a huge headache, I only had to look across the dorm to see that my friends were suffering in a similar way. When I stood up and the world spun around me, I wasn't so cheered up.

That was the beginning of the free time we would have for the next 2 weeks.

I was going to be visiting my sister on the 13th June and come back on the 17th June, so I needed to pack at some point. It was only five days away. My only problem was that I hadn't actually told my friends _why_ I was going to visit my family for a weekend and so, when Jake curiously asked, I came up with a lie about my father being in Hospital. It wasn't the most convincing lie ever and I saw Adam trading a sceptical look with Florrie. Later that day, Seifer mocked me cheerfully, asking me which hospital I was planning on visiting. It took all of my self control to stop myself from hitting him.

To make things worse, on the day before our exams finished, I argued with Tammy and now I didn't have anyone to talk to who wouldn't be constantly trying to get an advantage over me. It was weird but in a way I was becoming slightly sick of life in Slytherin. I had a feeling that this was _her_ influence.

By the 11th June, I was starting to feel a little edgy. I just wanted Friday to come so that I could leave and see my family but I was still stuck in the middle of the week. The others evidently sensed my annoyance because they gave me a wide berth that day. I joined in with all the jokes, pranks and complaints but my mind was elsewhere. All I wanted was to go to sleep so that the next day could arrive.

When the night finally did come, I found myself faced with the problem of not actually being able to sleep- having spent most of the day lazing around the lake I still had a lot of energy to spare. We had gone to bed at about eleven, but when midnight came, I was still awake and counting sheep. I glanced at my watch and groaned when I saw the time. Evidently, whoever had said that counting sheep would send you to sleep had been a liar. I was no more tired than I had been 1025 sheep earlier. I swung my legs out of bed and got up. Maybe a walk would tire me out.

Once dressed, I snuck out of the Common Room into the castle. I was used to walking through the halls of Hogwarts at night due to the amount of night time pranks I had pulled. I couldn't help smiling when I thought that. There couldn't be many kids around who could say the same thing. I paused for a moment, wondering where I could walk to. Suddenly it came to me. With practised ease, I crept up the Dungeon stairs and out of the Entrance Hall.

I stood still once I was outside and took a deep breath. It was silent, as silent as it had been inside but I preferred this kind of silence. The silence in the castle was ancient, full of guilt and secrets from the past and present. The silence outside was fresh, where I could just be myself, alone. I smiled as I took another deep breath. It was a pity that this was against curfew…although I had never been too fussed about breaking the rules.

After looking around at the moonlight filled grounds, I set off towards the lake. If Seifer kept going there to think, there had to be something good about it I reasoned. I walked slowly, enjoying the crunch my feet made on the grass. At least the night would be enjoyable if not tiring. It was strange in a way. The experience was incredibly simple, but that's what I liked the most. Perhaps I should have stopped doing complex activities, I thought, and do more simple things. Maybe that was where I was going wrong with the plan. Maybe it wasn't simple enough.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't even spot the jet of red light until it hit me. When I opened my eyes again, I was surprised to see that I was on the floor with a pretty girl looking down at me.

"Sorry about that," the girl said, smiling ruefully, "I thought you were…I don't know but you took me by surprise." She gave me a hand to pull myself up with. I took it.

"No problem," I replied. "Just do me a favour. Don't tell anybody about this." I smiled sheepishly as I said this. She sat down on the shore of the lake.

"I'll just add it to my list of things not to say about you." She replied, laughing softly. I raised one eyebrow as I sat next to her.

"What do you mean by that then?" I asked. "It's not like you keep a load of my secrets."

She laughed again. "Oh yeah?" She asked challengingly. "Let's see. There's that event then, you have a little sister, you're talking to me at all, you think Wizard music sucks, you actually don't like the colour green, you prefer the colour blue and…oh yes, you're a muggle born, not the halfblood your friends think you are."

I couldn't help laughing as I saw her point, but also because I was glad that Tammy had forgiven me for our argument. She hadn't mentioned it but then, Tammy never did mention arguments. She liked to forget them. "Okay, you know a bit about me," I relented.

She shook her head. "Yeah, you're a real closed book." She replied sarcastically.

I shrugged and looked across the lake. "So, why are you out here Miss Rowland? Surely it's too late for a good girl like you to be out?" I said this teasingly. Thankfully, she saw the light-hearted side.

"I come out here to think."

"Oh yes. What about?"

She took a sharp breath, as though deciding something. Then: "I'm a bit worried about Shelly."

"Oh, her." It came out a bit more dismissively than I meant but I didn't care much. As far as I was concerned, Grant wasn't worth Tammy's time and effort. I seemed to be conveniently forgetting that they were best friends.

Tammy stiffened at the tone in my voice, but didn't seem to comment. Instead she said: "She's really upset. She's been having bad dreams and stuff."

"So what's bugging her?" I asked in a 'couldn't care less' tone. I wasn't particularly interested but I thought that asking about Grant would mean that Tammy was less likely to start arguing with me.

I was wrong. She turned to face me, her ocean-blue eyes drilling into mine. "She's upset because of you. She said that she'd done something awful to you, something she regretted, but you won't forgive her. She's torturing herself over it."

"Good," I spat out without thinking.

"How is it good?" Tammy cried. I looked around nervously. We might have been outside but she sounded like she wanted to wake the whole castle up.

"Do you even know what she did to me?" I asked in an indignant tone, but much more quietly. Tammy shook her head. "Your 'friend' played up to my sympathies and then let me get kidnapped by some of her friends. They bound me and tortured me until Professor Neclor caught me. Then, when she did apologise, she told me that if I didn't forgive her, she'd tell my house about my family." I paused for a moment and then said, slowly and deliberately, "And you expect me to _sympathise_ with her? No way."

"You could have given her the benefit of the doubt-" Tammy began.

"Hell no." I interrupted. "She's like Jon Stickler and all of them. They all want a piece of me. She'd probably join in." I tried not to sound too whiny but I think it might have come out in my voice.

Tammy laughed a short, coarse bark. "Shelly, join in? You've got it wrong Zac," She said, shaking her head. "Jon Stickler was going to kill you after that rumour that you levitated her before Potions, but she told him not to. She said that she was sick of everyone assuming it was you."

This was news to me. "Why was Stickler going to kill me? I mean, some Gryffindors tried but why not any of her friends?" I asked curiously.

"Well, Jon _is_ her boyfriend." Tammy replied casually. "It makes sense that he'd be somewhat annoyed if someone levitated his girlfriend."

I stared at her, completely shocked. "_That's_ her boyfriend? Stickler? But how? Why? How could she? Why would she? Has she forgotten what he did to her?" I spluttered.

Tammy looked confused. "What did he do to her?"

I was shocked. How could Tammy forget that as well? The incident had never left my mind. Not really. "Don't you remember that first day, on the train up? When I left to get changed and-"

"Oh, I think I remember." Tammy said, a light of realisation in her eyes. "Jon and Darren and some others came in the compartment, and acted like the immature thirteen year olds they were. It involved kissing or hugging or something, right?" I nodded. "That was ages ago. They've changed since then, and Jon and Shelly make a really sweet couple."

"Stickler's the same pompous brat that he was then." I said loftily. Tammy shook her head, looking as though she was just going to humour me.

"He's changed Zac. People do. You shouldn't expect the worst from them."

It was my turn to shake my head. At least here I could point out where she was wrong. "If you don't expect the worst from people, then you lose the upper hand when they betray you. People cheat all the time. I'm just prepared for it."

"Typical Slytherin." She snapped.

"Stupid Hufflepuff" I responded. We glared at each other, breathing heavily. Suddenly Tammy smiled.

"What is it about us two that makes us fight?" She asked.

I smiled ruefully. "Dunno." I held out my hand. "Friends?"

She hesitated. "Only if you consider forgiving Shelly. She didn't want to hurt you."

"B-but-"

"Zac." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know you and Shelly have never liked each other but I know for a fact that you respected her, and she still respects you. And the fact that the pair of you were always polite to each other, just for me, means a lot. Shelly's not a bad person. She was talked into it and she's sorry. That should be enough."

"Well…"

"Please."

I looked at her face and for a moment, I felt strange. Her face was the opposite of mine- innocent, caring, loving. My resolve weakened as I thought over what she had just said, and after a few seconds, I responded with, "Fine." She squealed and instead of shaking my hand, hugged me. I hugged back and then gently levered her away from my body. It was possible that if I had let her stay there, my ribs would have been crushed.

"You know what I don't get though?" She mused after a few more seconds of silence.

"What?"

"Um…" She became hesitant. "Why the Slytherins always seem to be picking on everyone else." She blurted this out. I raised an eyebrow.

"We don't pick on people."

"Yes you do. People always see the Slytherins kicking people, throwing dungbombs at them, sneering at them. I don't get it."

"We don't pick on people." I repeated. "We're proving a point."

"What, that you can effectively trip people up?" Tammy asked sarcastically.

"No, that we don't like the way we're treated." I said. "We're sick of people always assuming the worst of us because of the war. We want things to change."

"Right," said Tammy hesitantly, after a pause. "And you didn't just tell people this because…"

"Because no one would listen. I mean, when I first spoke to you and Gr…Shelly, you explained the houses to me and you said that Slytherins weren't even worth talking about. Well, am I worth talking about, friend?"

She blushed. "Okay that was out of order," she admitted, "but I was eleven. Everyone's a bit stupid when they're eleven. As I recall, you definitely mentioned wanting to call You-Know-Who 'Guy' or 'Buddy' or something weird like that." She laughed. Even I had to smile. I couldn't actually remember doing that but it was quite funny. "But it's not like bullying people is going to make us think that you're all tender-hearted souls."

"It's not supposed to. It's supposed to make you know that we're sick of the way we're treated." I was frustrated, and I let it show. It was quite odd to depart from my usual calm and collected self. Something about this girl always made me show my emotions.

"How were we meant to know?" Tammy asked. "We're not mind readers you know. None of you ever mentioned it. I mean, okay, now I know. I'll stop assuming the worst of your house. But until you told me, I had no idea."

"Why didn't you ever ask us how we felt?" I challenged.

"It didn't occur to me obviously. People don't tend to see what's going on right underneath their noses, and most Slytherins I spoke to were intent on insulting me. Having a philosophical discussion wasn't the first thing in my mind." She was much calmer than I was, but I wasn't about to let her win the argument. Not when I had so much to say.

"You must know how we're treated though. Slytherins given detention if something bad happens. Blaise Zabini going through severe interrogation just to prove that he's not prejudiced. Theodore Nott's life ruined because his father was one of the Dark Lord's inner circle. The list is endless." I felt I had a winning point here and was pleased when she had trouble coming up with an answer.

"Well…I guess I never noticed but things are getting better…"

"How can you not see that we're sick of being treated like the bad guys?" I asked incredulously, trying to bring the argument to a victorious end for myself. It seemed obvious to me how annoyed we were. Couldn't she even look around at least once, get out of her happy innocent stupor, and see the real world?

She snorted, apparently finding some footing in the argument. "I told you, people don't notice these things. I mean, what's the general opinion of Hufflepuff?" I waited for her to carry on speaking, until I realised that it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"Oh, uh…" I mumbled as I suddenly looked at my hands for inspiration. "Uh, it's like, you're all, erm…" I couldn't think of a way to phrase it without offending Tammy and thus letting her win. I looked up at her, having decided that my hands were not giving me sufficient inspiration. Her face was tight with a triumphant smile.

"Exactly. You all think that Hufflepuff is the house for idiots and losers. Well, has it ever occurred to you that we hate this stereotype?"

She had a point, but I wasn't about to admit it. "Yeah, it has." I replied defiantly.

She smirked. "Sure," she said, making it perfectly clear that she didn't believe me, "and I guess you've noticed that Ravenclaws hate being seen as bookworms and that Gryffindors don't like being known as the impulsive stupid ones?"

That, I genuinely hadn't noticed. I had always assumed that everyone thought of Gryffindor as the best house. Perhaps Tammy was right. Perhaps people really couldn't see what was right under their noses.

I said nothing in reply, which she took to mean as a victory for herself. After a minute of looking pleased with herself, her face became more serious and she looked back across the lake. I started to look across the lake, but my eyes were drawn to her face instead. The one thing I loved about her was that she didn't take her victory over the top- she made it clear that she was happy but then she dropped it.

"Zac?" Her voice rang out unexpectedly as she turned to look at me. I hurriedly began inspecting my shoes.

"Yeah?"

"When are you going to visit Holly again?"

"Friday. I'm going by Floo I think. I get back on Tuesday."

"Oh. That means you'll miss the Hogsmeade weekend." She sounded oddly disappointed.

I shrugged. "Yeah but I'd rather go visit my family than go to some crummy village."

She laughed. "Fair point."

We lapsed back into more silence. I looked up at the sky, staring at the stars dotted in the black ocean above, occasionally glancing at the girl sitting next to me. I didn't know when I started thinking about it, but it was clear, at least to me, that Tammy was actually very beautiful. What was it dad had said? When two people sit under the moonlight…

I shook my head away from those thoughts and discovered that Tammy was staring at me expectantly. Had she asked me something?

"I'm sorry, what?" I said, confused.

"I still don't get it. Why did you start off so big, with pulling pranks on people?" She sounded more curious than upset over my ignoring her.

It took me a moment to think the answer over. "Because…well, you've gotta go big to make an impact. Show people that you're not to be messed with. Y'know, make waves."

Tammy thought about this for a moment. "But then you're more likely to be stopped quickly. If you started small and worked up to bigger things, people would start to notice. In the long run, it would have had a huge effect."

I shook my head. That didn't seem right to me. If we'd started off small, we'd have had to live with more injustice. This way, it was clear that we were fighters. I told her as much, but she disagreed with me and we argued about it a little bit more. After ten minutes, neither of us had won the argument and had eventually decided to agree to disagree. We went back to looking over the lake.

Why was I constantly arguing with her? She was right; it _was_ strange how we kept arguing. But my arguments with her were different from arguments with Adam (whom I often argued with). Tammy always forgave and forgot, but Adam wouldn't. None of my friends would. I rarely did. In a way, arguing with her was nice- I could let my feelings out and have a proper discussion without being manipulated.

The silence was still there, but it was a comfortable one. I watched the water ripple as the Giant Squid lazily moved its tentacles and I thought about random things. It felt like a perfect night. I could see why Seifer liked to come and sit here.

After ten more minutes of silence, I found myself wondering whether my companion had fallen asleep- she had been so quiet that I was beginning to get a little suspicious.

I looked over at her. She was still looking across the lake, her legs held by her hands, a distant look on her face. I smiled when I saw her. When she looked towards me, I didn't look away. She saw my smile and smiled back at me, a happy smile.

And then we were kissing. I don't know who made the first move. Maybe it was both of us, but I found myself kissing her as though my life depended on it, with her responding in a similar fashion. I remembered all the kisses I had shared with Jade, but none of them could compare with this. Jade had been nice, but this felt nicer. Better. Like we were a right match. I laced my arms around her body, moving my hands over her back, her hair, her legs. She responded in a similar fashion, filling me with a rush of adrenaline. Our kiss deepened. The more I touched, the more I wanted to touch. And the more I kissed, the less I wanted to leave her side.

I think we both realised that we were moving too far, too fast. We both stopped, although I kept my arm around her as I checked my watch. I nearly jumped with shock- I had been out of the dorm for over an hour. The longer I stayed out, the more chance there was that someone would wake up and find me missing. The same had to be true for Tammy. Reluctantly, I informed her that we had to go back to our Common Rooms.

We got up with groans and set off across the grass towards the castle in silence. As we walked, I marvelled at how everything near me seemed to have become more beautiful. The way the grass gleamed in the moonlight, the intricate knots of the Whomping Willow, everything.

I wondered how my relationship with Tammy was going to change after this night. I longed for more times like that night, but I couldn't be seen with Tammy. The two ideas just wouldn't go together. Maybe this was going to cause us to lose our friendship. Maybe this night hadn't been such a good idea after all…

I glanced at Tammy and saw a smile on her face. Even if I lost her friendship, it was worth it after all.

We reached the Entrance Hall and said our goodbyes. It wasn't until we parted that I realised we had been holding hands.


	21. Meeting Holly

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter at all.

Geth342: Sorry about the long update. I've been mostly revising so updating has been hard. But exams are over so hopefully i can update more. I've decided that not replying to reviews is actually rather rude so from now on, i will always reply to a review :)

I don't know how many people read the preview in my profile but, i feel that i should warn you that, due to the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter, THERE WILL BE NO PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 22 IN MY PROFILE. This is because i don't want to give any hint whatsoever as to what happens in the next chapter. I want it to be a mystery until i update. Anyway, i hope you enjoy and please read and review.

Chapter 21: Meeting Holly.

I finally decided to pack on the next morning. No one in my dorm had noticed that I had been away for part of the night so, luckily, I didn't have to face any awkward questions. I did get a few questions as to why I was smiling so much if I was about to visit my father in the hospital but I fended those off by saying that it looked as though my dad would be recovering.

My good mood increased at breakfast. It had started off normally, with Seifer winding Jake up about something and the rest of us laughing until the Owl Post came. As usual, Adam got a packet of sweets and Jake got a letter from someone, although I noticed that he read it with a frown. Then a small barn owl arrived and held out a letter for me. I read it.

_Dear Zac,_

_Meet me tonight at the same place at the same time._

_T_

_P.S. I hope you've eaten your bacon already because the bird loves the stuff._

I looked up to see that, true to the warning, the owl was eating my bacon. I put the letter down and shooed him away, turning back just in time to see Seifer reading my letter.

"Hey, hands off!" I exclaimed. "I don't go around reading your mail."

Seifer smirked. "You would if I got any."

He had a point but I wasn't about to admit it. "No I wouldn't." I denied.

"You would. So, who's T? Your new girl?"

I realised that I was rumbled but I knew how to turn this to my advantage. "Uh, yeah. It's Tina Spangler. Don't tell anyone." I made this sound as sincere as I could.

"Spangler?" Seifer said incredulously. "Lucky bum." I smiled at him. Tina Spangler was a very hot Slytherin Seventh year who had apparently been single for several months. Boys always asked her out and she quite often refused. However, I knew for a fact that she was secretly dating Luke Borallis: I had walked in on them kissing a month before and had agreed not to tell anyone in return for a few favours. This meant that if anyone asked Spangler if we were dating, she would have to say yes and Borallis couldn't say anything. Sometimes, plans seemed to be set up for me without me even knowing. It was just too perfect.

I scribbled 'okay' on the back of the parchment and sat back, ready to go through the day with a smile on my face. Even the dreary task of packing did not annoy me despite the fact that my friends had abandoned me to go and sit outside in the sun.

I didn't need all of my belongings as I would only be away for a few days, but I did want to hide some of my items. I had a suspicion that someone might go through my stuff while I was away.

That evening, I waited until ten to twelve before sneaking out of the dorm. When I left, I had the feeling that someone was watching me but I didn't have time to check if anyone was still awake. I had to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I was surprised at how easy it was to sneak out, but I wasn't complaining when Tammy ran up to me and kissed me on the cheek whilst hugging me. I couldn't help smiling then. I had been waiting all day for her.

We settled back by the shore of the lake. I put my arm around her and she moved closer to me.

"So, are we going out then?" She asked quietly.

I looked at her. 'Going out' implied taking her to places, walking around the castle holding hands, showing her off to my friends. If I wanted to keep my face looking the way it was, I couldn't do any of that- I didn't know whether it would be my house or the other houses that would do the rearranging, but I was sure that one of them would. I opened my mouth to tell her so but something else came out.

"Sure."

She squealed happily. "That's so great. But…you're not here for the Hogsmeade weekend." She sounded disappointed. I found myself wondering vaguely how long she had liked me for- she must have fancied me if she let me kiss her. I stopped this train of thought when it turned onto the uncomfortable subject of how long _I _had fancied her for.

"I know," I said, hiding my relief. "But, um…we can have our special weekend at some point!" I decided not to add that this would preferably be a secret weekend.

She smiled. "Yeah, that'll be nice. Maybe we can meet up in the holidays as well." She paused for a moment and then added, "But I think I need some time to work out how to tell my friends about us. I mean, um, no offence but you're not exactly their favourite person in the world."

I tried not to sound too grateful as I replied with "Sure, no problem. We should do this just right." She moved her arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze which told me that I had pulled my act off.

We talked about little things for the next fifteen minutes, just enjoying each other's company. Suddenly an idea came to me. I started delving in my pocket. She asked me what I was looking for but I ignored her until I had grabbed the item and she had poked me in the side.

"Hey," I squeaked, jumping with shock.

She grinned evilly. "Serves you right for ignoring your girlfriend." That still sounded odd to me. My girlfriend.

I smiled mysteriously at her. "It's worth it though. Hold on." I got up and held the object up. I took my wand out and put a charm on it and then pressed some buttons. Then I ran back to Tammy, put my arm around her shoulders and smiled at the floating camera lens. After a flash, telling me it had taken the photo, I went up to the camera and poked another button. A photo of me and Tammy sitting and laughing printed out. I loved this camera. It was a joint birthday present from Seifer, Jake, Tahir and Adam which not only took photos, but could print them out too. With a smile, I handed the photo to Tammy and then printed one out for myself whilst she looked at it.

"What's this for?" She asked as I sat back down.

I shrugged. "Thought it'd be nice to take you around with me and I thought you might want the picture as a keepsake or something. If you don't…"

"No, no, I like it." She protested, holding the photo away from my outstretched hand. I moved my arm back across her shoulders, smiling. If I had suggested that to Jade, she would have just laughed. "Are you looking forward to seeing Holly then?" She asked, jerking me away from my thoughts.

"Yeah. I've really gotten used to the idea of having a little sister." I replied truthfully.

She laughed. "I should hope so after eight months. Have you gotten a present for her?"

"A present?"

"Yeah, you know, for her birthday."

I was stricken. A present! Why on earth hadn't I thought of that? "Uh…oh crap." I muttered hurriedly, thinking. "I can, uh, I can, uh…I'll buy one when I'm on my way to the house. I'm being dropped off in the village. I just need some muggle money…" I trailed off, desperately trying to remember where I had placed the fiver that I had forgotten to change for wizards' money.

"Do you have any muggle money?" Tammy asked curiously. "I would have thought you'd have changed it all."

"My jeans!" I declared triumphantly. She stared at me, understandably surprised by my response. I informed her that I had left five pounds in a pair of jeans that I had with me, and that I had been trying to remember where I put my money. She laughed and the talk descended back to less serious things.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I left most of my belongings in my suitcase, under a locking charm, and only took my school bag with some clothes in. Although I would be flooing to some house in the wizards' village near my home, I lived in the nearby muggle village and would therefore have to show up in muggle clothes. So instead of putting on plain clothes and robes, I dressed in my jeans (with the money in the pocket) and a black t-shirt with a lightning bolt on it. My friends fell about laughing when they saw me, but I wasn't too sure what the fuss was. Most of the kids in the school walked around in muggle clothing on holidays and weekends.

I arrived in the house of the wizard who gave me directions back to my village. My village was about two kilometres away so it didn't take me long to arrive. I didn't run there, but I didn't dawdle either.

Once there, I went straight to a small corner shop which I knew was on the outskirts of the village. I was in a rush so I grabbed the first doll I could find which didn't look like the Barbie dolls girls in my primary school had played with, and didn't look like it should have been a Halloween doll. I ended up with a somewhat pathetic ragdoll in a pink dress with love hearts, big blue eyes, stringy brown hair and a soppy smile. After I had paid for it, while I waited for the bus with the remainder of my money ready, (I had become an expert at taking the bus after summers and Christmases spent in the village) I inspected it. It looked pathetic. My only consolation was that as Holly was only a month old, she couldn't criticize me on my choice of dolls. And she couldn't have had many others to compare it with anyway.

I arrived at my house at about eleven o'clock in the morning. I didn't have a key so I knocked on the door, feeling very self-conscious holding the rag doll. My father was the one who opened the door; the moment he saw me, he roared "Zac!" and gave me a bear hug.

He ordered me upstairs and told me to put my stuff in my room. I walked upstairs and into my room- it was empty, apart from a bed, table and wardrobe, reminding me that I didn't really have a life there.

I finished putting my stuff away in my room and walked out into the corridor.

"Where is she then?" I asked, nervously holding the doll I had bought in the village behind my back. Dad was still standing outside the spare room...or Holly's bedroom as it was now called. He smiled at me.

"She's in here. She's been waiting to meet her big brother for a long time now." The term 'big brother' still felt weird to me so I just smiled at dad and walked into the room.

Mum was sitting on a chair, holding a bundle. She looked up when she heard me come in.

"Zac, I think there's someone here who wants to see you." She said, smiling, and she held the bundle out to me. Uneasy, I put the doll in the cot in the middle of the pink room and walked over to mum. I held out my arms and took the bundle, unsure of what to expect or feel.

She was lighter than I thought she would be and I was scared that I would crush her if I held her too tight. I have never been quite as nervous as I was on that day. Then I looked into her smiling face.

"Hello Holly." I whispered. She blinked back sleepily. She had the same piercing blue eyes as me I noted. I sat down on a spare chair and tried to think of what to do with her. I freed my left hand and started to move my finger to tickle her. Just as I was about to, I decided that she wasn't a dog so I probably shouldn't tickle her. But as I began to move my finger away, I felt a tiny hand grip it. I looked down and saw Holly holding it, smiling and blinking sleepily. I think my heart melted.

I stayed with Holly for most of the afternoon, playing with her and talking to her about my life and school. I missed out most of the parts where I got in trouble because my parents were usually nearby. I wasn't sure if she would appreciate these stories but it made me feel more like an older brother.

In the evening, my parents gave me some birthday presents: a few new tops and jeans and about £100. In addition, I had money from other relatives as well as a wrestling DVD off my cousins (which I would never watch) and a book on business from my grandfather.

On the next day, we went up to London for a family weekend trip. It was a fun weekend; we visited most of the touristy places, went to a fairground and shopped. I bought some muggle books but most things didn't interest me. Since I was going to be living in the wizarding world when I was older, most of the muggle contraptions held no use for me.

We ate dinner in a fancy restaurant and, before we left, I popped over to Diagon Alley so that I could change my muggle money to wizard's money. I deposited some, as always, but kept most of it.

On the Monday, Matt came over for a while, to talk with me and Holly. His GCSEs had finished on the Friday before so he was relatively happy. We went into the village square and saw a film with his girlfriend and some boys and girls I remembered vaguely from primary school and a few who I had never met before. The actual film was pretty dreary- about some war between good and evil, with dragons and trolls. Matt and his friends thought it was amazing, especially the 'graphics' (I wasn't too sure as to exactly what they were) but I knew it couldn't compare to the real thing. For one thing, dragons don't look like horses with wings. I pretended to be as enthusiastic as they were, but maybe my act showed because I felt like an outsider. Then again, it had been clear from the start that a few of the kids from primary school still disliked me. That didn't bother me. I had never been fond of them and besides, they were only muggles.

Despite this, the afternoon was enjoyable and when I returned to the house, I knew all sorts of useless gossip about Ysgol Glanhwylio, rugby and some muggle celebrity who was in hospital for the fifth time after drinking too much. I wasn't sure when all this knowledge would ever come in useful but I didn't criticise. A few kids had asked me about my school but I just said that the kids were all quite posh and that I was almost constantly in detention. That had made them laugh and start talking about all the detentions they had ever had. The subject of my school was barely approached again.

Monday evening was nice. We sat in the living room and played Cranium. I had forgotten almost everything I was asked to do so I was allowed to fill it in with wizard varieties. It was me and Holly against my parents- I had the disadvantage in that Holly couldn't actually answer any of the questions, do any of the songs, make any models or do any actions but I always helped her and although we lost quite impressively (we only made it about a quarter of the way around the board) it was still fun. I didn't even mind losing, something my parents commented on before I went to bed.

Before I went to sleep, I remembered the part in that first letter from my dad, telling me not to worry about Holly replacing me. I realised that I _had_ been worried, despite what I had said, because I was used to having all my parents attention when I was at home. But that weekend convinced me that my parents would always love me and that Holly was worth being moved slightly to one side for. I didn't know it then, but I needed that knowledge.

On Tuesday, I packed my belongings. I spotted the DVD and put it in one corner of my bedroom. I would never watch it. Apart from the fact that I had no interest in wrestling and I couldn't remember how to work the DVD player, I also knew that Jack had picked it to remind me that he had beaten me up. I didn't want to touch it.

I also noticed the business book from my grandfather. I wasn't sure what he expected me to do with this book but I decided that it was the thought that counted and put it in my bag. It was definitely better than the DVD and I was in such a family mood that I thought something from a family member who wasn't my parents would be nice. I think I probably went a bit insane.

I left at four in the afternoon. I had all my clothes, my money, my wand and wizard stuff and the book. I spent my last hour in Holly's room, playing with her. To my pleasure, she always seemed to be hugging the doll I gave her. When my father told me I had to go, I picked Holly up and kissed her on her forehead, breathing her smell in. I had only been with her for a few days but I already felt a real connection between us. It was probably a good thing that my friends couldn't see me at this point- they would have teased me until the day I left Hogwarts.

My parents told me to be good for the remainder of school and that they would pick me up from Kings Cross, as always. I left in good spirits and arrived in Professor Trent's office at quarter to five. Immediately, I headed for the Common Room. It would be good to see my mates again.

I only got as far as the First Floor when someone called me. I turned around and was confronted by Tammy and some friend of hers in the year below us. I pretended not to like Tammy.

"What?" I snapped.

The black haired girl glared at me. "Where is she?"

I stared at her. What was I meant to say to that? Who on earth was 'she?' Professor Ramik? My sister? Shelly Grant? The conductor on the bus? In the end, I said, "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me," she snarled. "Where is she?"

"Jess…"Tammy said, but I beat her to it.

"Who the hell is 'she'? Your mother?" This wasn't meant to be offensive, but that's how it came out. I tried not to look at Tammy.

"No. Rhian Groves." Jess (I guessed that was the girl's name) snarled. She drew her wand.

I looked at her with a lot less confidence. "Um…that doesn't help much. Will you please tell me why you're threatening me?" Clearly, being rude wouldn't be a smart idea.

Tammy looked at her friend. "Jess, I don't think he knows." She said softly.

"He's a Slytherin." She replied. "Tom saw her talking to Etasyl's little brother last."

"Still…"

I decided to interrupt this fascinating conversation. "Look, I've been visiting family since Friday." I said. "I got back five minutes ago. Apart from Professor Trent, you're the only two people that I've spoken to."

"So?" said Jess defiantly. I groaned. How stupid could this girl be?

"So," I said, "How the hell would I know where your friend is if I've been in the castle for five minutes?"

Jess said nothing. Tammy looked me in the eyes. "Carew, look. Rhian's a first year Hufflepuff. She has red hair like me and she's been missing since this morning. None of her friends know where she is and we're all worried. If you see her, could you please tell someone? Or get her back?" She sounded desperate. "Please?"

"Please do it." Jess added, sounding just as desperate. As much as I longed to say no to the fourth year, I realised that Tammy would not have been impressed if I did, and I didn't really want to annoy her.

"Fine," I muttered gruffly, "but I'm not going looking for her. If you've lost her, it's your own fault. Now can I please go?"

Both girls nodded and I walked off without another word. Why was it that when people went missing, everyone suspected me? Did I have a sign on me which said 'I'm a kidnapper!' or something? These thoughts irritated me and by the time I got to the entrance of the Common Room, my good mood had evaporated. I forced myself to think of Holly as I nodded at a third year nearby and muttered the password (heritage).

I shouldn't have bothered trying to put myself back into a good mood. The scene that confronted me in the Common Room swept away any good feelings I had given myself.

The good news was that I had found Rhian Groves. The bad news was that no one else in the room seemed particularly keen to give her up. She was in the middle of the room, tied up and with a blindfold on. All the Slytherins surrounded her. As I walked further into the room, Reaver swaggered forwards and shot a spell at the first year. The girl whimpered and everyone laughed- everyone except me. Maybe I had been spending too much time with Tammy but the only thing I could think of was that the whole situation seemed sick. It reminded me too much of when the Ravenclaws snatched me. As I watched silently, words came back to me.

_She's been missing since this morning…_

_He's a Slytherin…_

_We're all worried…_

_I don't think he knows…_

"Zac!" This roar from Seifer bought me out of my stupor. People turned, finally tearing their eyes away from the 'entertainment' to stare at me. "You're back! What's up?"

I fought to control my anger. "What the _hell_ are you doing?" I asked tightly.

Reaver swaggered forward. "Thought we'd have some fun with the mudblood." He replied nonchalantly, giving the girl a kick as he passed. She didn't make a sound. I got the impression that she was used to it.

I didn't smile. "Right and how are you planning to explain this if Chappell comes in?" I was ignoring the mudblood comment because this seemed far more urgent. I wanted nothing to do with this and being caught with my house mates would not help my case.

Tahir smiled slyly. "He's dealing with a potions spill. It'll take him hours." A few of the third years laughed and I knew who had caused it. Whilst I tried to think of an argument, Adam walked forward, a challenging gleam in his eyes. I suddenly knew who had set this up.

"So, you're back, Zac. Why don't you take a pop at the mudblood?" He smirked.

I shook my head. "Thanks but no thanks. I'm tired from my trip."

He laughed softly. "Sure. It'll only take a minute though. Come on, she's only a mudblood."

I shook my head again. The room was silent, except for Rhian's laboured gasps. "That's not a reason to attack anyone Etasyl. That…that's just barbaric. It's that sort of idea that got Slytherin screwed the first time." I replied quietly with fury in my voice

Adam's grin widened. "Ah, I wondered when we'd get onto your little plan. Are you even still for it? I got the impression that you were reconsidering."

I stared at him. "What the hell are you talking about? I started the plan."

He shrugged. "Maybe, but you're not gonna finish it. I've been watching you Carew. Before, you wouldn't have stopped with the notes thing until everyone had done their job. You've stopped people from working on the plan. You talk all about how house ideals are nothing and then you tell people to have them. I've seen you talking to Rowland occasionally and sneaking out of the dorm. I say you're not with us. So does everyone else"

"How do I prove I am then?" I growled, exasperated. Adam really was an idiot, but looking around at the nodding Slytherins, he appeared to be a very persuasive idiot. Only Seifer, Kali and a few others looked uncertain.

Adam gestured towards Rhian. "Torture her. Use Crucio."

The Hufflepuff started to cry when she heard that. I stared at Adam. "An Unforgiveable? No way. No bloody way. I'm not going to Azkaban for anyone, least of all you."

"You won't go to Azkaban. We'll obliviate her, no one here will talk." I said nothing. He kept talking in his smooth voice. "Come on, she's against us. You know she hates us. Why not punish her now, rather than wait for one of us to get hurt? We're Slytherins. She's just a Hufflepuff. Even if you won't do it because she's a mudblood, she's still not one of us."

He had a point. Hadn't I always said that we should declare war on the rest of the school? Talking to Tammy _had_ made my resolve for the plan go. That needed to change. I fumbled for my wand out of my back pockets. At least it would stop Adam from getting me killed.

But why should I hurt her? I could say it was because she was against us, but when it came down to it, it was Adam's blood purity obsession. As I looked at the victim, I almost saw Tammy's face there. I saw my own. What gave me the right to use an Unforgiveable on her? What gave me the right to hurt her for no reason?

But then, stricter steps had to be taken. She would be an example. And if I didn't do it, I would be next. I could hurt her lightly and save myself. Just because I promised Tammy, it didn't mean anything. I was for myself. Always had been, always would be. Just because someone deemed it dark magic, didn't mean it was dark. It depended on my purpose. And my purpose here was for justice, not evil.

Should I do it? I would be damned if I did and damned if I didn't.

I made a split second decision. One that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

I raised my wand and pointed it at the girl.


	22. The Mudblood Prince

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Geth342: How's that for a quick update eh? Although, the next one may be slightly longer as i'll be back in school next week. Not very long though. I was a bit sad when no one reviewed but, i'm going to remain optimistic :) Preview will be up for the next chapter tomorrow probably, as i need to go to bed now.

As the story is coming to an end, i'm doing my next dedication now. This chapter is dedicated to Lady Alianne, who reviewed and put me in a C2, something which made me really happy. Thanks so much :)

Anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter. Random fact: This was the original title of the story when i decided it wouldn't be a oneshot, but i thought the prince thing was overdone so i changed my mind. It would be nice if you reviewed this chapter but hey, as long as you all enjoy it, i'm happy.

Chapter 22: The Mudblood Prince

"Diffindo."

With that one word, I sealed my fate. My spell severed the ropes that bound Rhian. Without a word to anyone, I pulled the girl up by one of her hands and helped her walk outside the common room. No one tried to stop me- they were all too stunned.

Why was I letting her go? I asked myself this as we walked across the room. But as soon as I thought it, I knew it was because there had been no real reason to hurt her. I had pranked people at random but had never tried to hurt them. This was going too far. Adam had obviously declared himself leader and if I agreed now, I would eventually do something worse. I would probably kill someone and that was something I wasn't ready for.

I took a deep breath once I was outside and then put my wand to Rhian's temple after we had walked over to a potions classroom. She was whimpering, asking what was going on and trying hard to stop the tears that were streaking down her blood-covered face. I tried to ignore her as I whispered the words of a gentle memory wipe charm that I had learnt in the summer two years before. It wouldn't erase a lot of memories, just what had happened that day. She slumped for a moment in my arms, as the memories left her. I quickly took off her blindfold.

She looked up at me, blinking painfully, her eyes unused to the light. "W-where am I?" She stuttered. "W-what happened?"

I thought quickly. "You, uh…you fell. Well, I think you fell. You were in the Potions room up that way and when I walked by you were on the floor and there were potions all around you. You're in pretty bad shape." This sounded lame to me but I didn't have a better excuse. I couldn't tell her that the Slytherins had been torturing her.

"Ouch," she muttered as she rubbed her head, "I feel it too." Then something occurred to her and her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "W-why are you helping me?"

I tried to sound as normal as I could. "If you died, someone probably would have said I killed you. Some fourth year was shouting at me about you anyway. Go to the damn Hospital Wing before you collapse again."

She nodded and began to limp away. Before she turned the corner, she turned around and whispered, "Thank you."

I watched her go. Then, summoning all my courage, I turned back and went into the common room. The third years outside had gone.

As soon as I walked in, Reaver and Borallis grabbed me and pinned me up against the wall. I struggled for a moment and they grudgingly let me move away from the wall. Adam walked in front of me, his eyes dark with anger.

"Why did you do that?" He hissed.

I pretended to not quite understand his question. "Well," I began cheerfully, "the wall was rather cold and it hurts to be shoved into it so I thought it would be _much_ nicer to let me be grabbed in the middle of the room instead." My voice had so much false cheer in it that I felt like I was the new candidate for Santa Claus. No one smiled.

Adam ground his teeth together. "Not _that_, you moron. Why did you let her go?"

"Oh," I said in a voice of realisation, as though I really were a moron, "that. Because I'm not stupid. Just because Chappell's cleaning, doesn't mean he can't walk in here and find us." I replied.

Adam pointed to a boy with sandy coloured hair. "Zac, you saw Jack on your way in. And Nadia. They were our look-outs. What's your real reason?"

At least that explained why they had disappeared back into the common room when I had returned. Now that I thought about it, it was obvious that they had been look-outs.

But I had another ace up my sleeve. I narrowed my eyes. "Trent might have come in here anyway. Your brother was seen, Etasyl. I heard some of the Hufflepuffs on my way down here. They're looking for her and they know it was Slytherin who took her. Your brother should be more careful."

"Leave my brother out of it." He snarled.

"No. If he had been more careful, I wouldn't have had to do it." I snarled back.

The tension between us was so thick that you could have cut it with a knife. We glared at each other for countless seconds. Then, Adam smiled.

"What?" I asked suspiciously. His smile widened.

"I was just wondering," he said, "why you didn't tell us about the Hufflepuffs. We could have distracted the teachers and got rid of her somewhere, after you had had your fun."

He had a point. I thought quickly. "Look, I was tired. I 'd just come back from the hospital into a crime scene. How the hell did you think I'd react?"

"With the same cool head and quick wits that you're famous for," he replied silkily. "You've said it before; you keep your head in bad situations. You weren't panicking about getting caught. You were doing it for another reason." He brought his face close to mine. "What is it?"

"No reason." I replied. Reaver's grip tightened.

"No reason." Adam repeated. "You know what I think?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me," I replied dully. He smirked.

"I think you're a liar."

"Big surprise there." Someone muttered. I wished that I could curse them.

"I think you're a Mudblood lover." He said dramatically. I blinked coolly at him.

"That's nice. You should have told me that it was creative writing time. I would have joined in." I smirked for the first time. In response, he hit me, right across the face. My smirk vanished.

"Stop acting stupid, Carew." He snarled. "This is serious."

"How?" I retorted. "Because you think that I'm starting a charity for Mudbloods?"

He shook his head. "Listen Carew. I know that you're all about blood not mattering, but it does. It shows who has the right to be here."

"Yeah, you're a regular normal guy aren't you? Now who was it I heard talking like that?" I mused, "oh yeah. The Dark Lord. And guess what. He's dead." I looked at him casually but my heart was pounding. I was on thin ice here.

He laughed. "That won't happen again. Only Pure-bloods like me and Half-bloods like you have the right to be here. The Mudbloods can all go back to their part of the country. I'm not gonna kill them." If it had been funny, I would have laughed at the irony. A Half-blood like me.

"No, just beat the hell out of them. You're a saint." I replied sarcastically.

"They. Are. Inferior. To .Us." He spat out each word. "They are worse than _any_ Pure-blood criminal."

"You're nothing like your great-uncle, are you?" I said in amazement.

He shrugged. "Why do you think we don't get on? Zabini has strange ideas."

"I don't think he does." I replied quietly. "I think you're the one with strange ideas."

"Then you are a blood traitor, as bad as the Mudbloods." He declared. "You sicken me."

"What, because I've moved on with the times?" I retorted. "You're a blood fanatic. There's nothing wrong with Muggle-borns." I nearly bit my tongue then. How could I have let that bit slip?

"Since when," Adam said delicately, "did you call them Muggle-borns?"

"Since I got sick of you." I replied angrily. "All you do is talk crap about how pure blood is. That screws up lives and it's rubbish anyway. Muggle-borns are just as good as Pure-bloods." I was really getting annoyed now. I had known that Adam thought blood was important but I had never realised just how deeply he believed it.

"Oh yeah? How do you know?" He challenged.

"How do I know?" I repeated. "Easy. Because I am the leader of the plan. I am one of the best wizards in the year." I paused for effect. "Because I am the first and only Muggle-born Slytherin."

Shocked silence filled the room. Adam, rather than shouting at me, just stared at me with his mouth wide open. Reaver and Borallis loosened their grip out of surprise. Everyone was still. Evidently, no one had been expecting this. I looked around nervously. I hadn't really planned on ever telling my secret but I had always thought that someone would speak if I had. This silence was unnerving.

Finally, Tahir spoke. "What did you say?" He said in a strangled voice.

Suddenly, I saw a way to turn the situation to my advantage. I smirked. "I said that I'm a Muggle-born. Means that there are no wizards in my family mate."

"You can't be." Tahir said, looking at me as though I had sprouted an extra head.

"But I am," I replied. "And you know what? I'm proud of it too. I can do all the magic stuff here and when I go home, I can go on normal holidays with my parents, I can go on the computer and I can play football with my Muggle friend. In fact," I pushed Reaver and Borallis out of the way and delved into my bag, getting the business book out, "I'm planning on reading this tonight. A book on Muggle business." I looked around. Still everyone was silent and looking somewhat confused (unsurprising because most of them had ever heard of the things I had just described). I began to laugh.

"What?" Tahir asked suspiciously.

I carried on grinning. "You. All of you. When I came in here, you all thought you had me sussed. But you don't. None of you did and none of you will." I laughed again. "You all knew I had a secret. You all hated Muggle-borns. But you didn't think that was the secret."

I surveyed them, still smirking. "You followed me whilst you complained about Muggle-borns. You never questioned my story." I put on a high voice. "_Oooh, Muggle-borns are hopeless. They're terrible wizards. They don't belong here._" I went back to my normal voice. "You know what? I'm the one who began the plan I engineered it. I'm the leader. In fact, d'you know what I am?"

No one answered. I moved fully away from Borallis and Reaver and jumped on a table, surveying everyone. "I," I declared grandly, "am the Mudblood Prince!"

This finally prompted Adam to speak. He glared at me. "You are a disgrace to wizarding." He hissed.

"Then you are an even bigger one for following me." I replied coolly. This time, I was ready for his punch and ducked out of the way when it came, laughing all the while. It seemed to infuriate him.

"You have no right to be a Slytherin," He snarled, "You have no right to be leader. I think we should punish you in the same way we did to the other Mudblood. And banish you. You can't stay here." He raised his voice. "Help me get him."

People began to move towards me, wands drawn. I winced. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. I held my wand out- if they were going to kill me, I would take one of them with me. But before any fight could begin, Seifer walked in front of me.

"No." He said simply. "Adam, you're my friend but you're wrong."

"Get out of the way Langtree." Adam replied. Seifer shook his head.

"I can't," he said quietly, "not without damning us. I'm as mad as you are that he lied to us all this time, but Zac doesn't deserve this. Everyone has secrets. And he was right. You went too far. His heritage has nothing to do with that. Family doesn't make a person" He drew his wand out. "If you banish Zac, you banish me too."

He smiled up at me. I smiled back. At least I had one friend. He would be the only one though: this was clearly the Hufflepuff in him and the influence of his own real family. No one else would stick with me.

Adam grunted. "Fine. We'll get both of you then. Langtree, you're a blood traitor." He began to mutter a spell again, glaring at Seifer at the same time.

"If you're going to get them, you're going to get me too." A voice shouted. Adam stopped.

"What?" He groaned.

To my surprise, Kali walked over to Seifer and drew her wand. "You heard me." She answered. "Seifer's right. Zac's an idiot but that's it. That Hufflepuff is the same age as me and I wouldn't wish what you did to her on anyone, not even the Dark Lord. Zac's right. Muggle-borns don't deserve to be kicked out." Her jaw was set firmly and she looked determined. "I'm with Zac."

I found myself feeling very fond of Kali. She had changed from being that insecure Slytherin in the first week to someone willing to stick up for herself. And as she was sticking up for me, I felt even prouder of her.

Adam rolled his eyes. "For the love of Merlin…fine. You can be banished too." He sounded like the people from a 'Dungeons and Dragons' game which Matt had once dragged me to, but I felt that it wasn't the time to point this out. He raised his wand again.

"No."

Adam shook his head. "Alright, now what?" He snapped, exasperated.

Angela walked forward and stood by Kali. She shrugged. "Think about it Adam. Zac is a Muggle-born. He knew nothing about our ways when he came, so he saw the prejudice with a fresh eye. If he had never come, we wouldn't have started fighting for our rights. Zac deserves to stay." She said this casually but I could tell that she was nervous. Sweat glistened on her dark skin and she wrung hr hands together. I was glad she had taken my side though- she was a fair person and a very good witch. She would be useful in a fight. That being said, four against seventy-odd people isn't a fight; it's suicide.

Adam growled. "Fine. Whatever." He turned around. "If there's anyone else who wants to suffer with the Mudblood, then can you please go now?" He called.

Borallis shifted to join Adam. "I'm not siding with a Mudblood. I'm with Adam."

"I find the term Mudblood insulting," a voice called out. I watched in amazement as Tina Spangler, Borallis' secret girlfriend, walked to my side, "and I'm with Zac."

I spotted Borallis looking sad but he didn't say anything. Jake was the next to speak.

"I…I have no opinion. Zac lied to us, and he's not a pure or a Half-blood…but maybe times have moved on so much that this can't matter. I'm not joining in." He declared and walked to the side of the room, halfway between the two groups. I wondered what was going on in his head.

It soon became clear that people were of three minds. One by one, students declared their support for Adam or for me, or they declared themselves neutral. It was absolutely extraordinary, considering that everyone was giving a thought-out opinion. I could only wish that the rest of the school could have seen us. They would have realised that we were just like them.

Tahir was the last person to declare his side. He was a thinker and had spent some time analysing the situation. Eventually, he said in his cool, precise tones, "Zac has the right of it here. Muggle-borns, while they may not have gotten magic fairly have integrated so much that this doesn't matter. He was the leader. He deserves to stay in Slytherin."

I looked around at the result. Roughly one third of people had gone to each faction. It was a random mix. Jade and Tanya had joined Adam but Florrie had joined me. Zoë had joined Jake. Nick had joined Adam. Eve, who I had assumed did not have a single original thought in her head, had joined Jake after giving a short speech on why the issue was irresolvable.

There was a mix of people in each group. It was clear that, if we were to fight, it would be a very close battle. Adam seemed to realise this as well but didn't say anything. He stayed at the front of the group, glaring at me.

Finally, the boy spoke. "Get out of the common room Carew," he hissed.

I shook my head. "No. This is my place as much as yours. I'm staying."

Jake jumped in the middle, before anyone could start a fight. "I have an idea!" He shouted. We looked at him. "We'll have…three people from Adam's side and three people from Zac's side discuss this sensibly. Three people from my lot will mediate. Remember the rule about arguments? They get sorted out."

I regarded Adam with loathing. He had never been my favourite person, but I had thought we were friends. Now, I wanted nothing to do with him. "I'll do it Jake," I said clearly, "because I am a Slytherin. I wouldn't want my house to dissolve into anarchy."

Adam glared at me with equal hatred. "You don't belong here. But I'll do it too, if only to prove that you deserve nothing."

Jake interrupted our 'macho' face-off. "Great. Pick two people to go with you." He turned to face his group. "Um…Zoë, you're good at this stuff. And…Sam Apolit. You're with me."

I took his lead and looked over my following. "Right…Seifer, you're coming with me. Angela Paxton, you too. You're both somewhat fair people." I saw Kali's face drop with disappointment so I walked over to her and quietly told her that if I had been allowed a third person, I would have picked her but I needed people who were a bit more experienced. The odd thing was that I wasn't even lying. I had seriously considered Kali.

Adam had picked Reaver and Jade. I betted that Jade was there to throw me off more than to help the course of negotiations run smoothly.

Jake, Sam and Zoë consulted for a minute and then told us that we were going to negotiate in the seventh year boys' dorm. It wasn't the greatest place around but I supposed that it would do.

We trooped into the room, with calls of good luck/no fighting/kill him from the Slytherins behind us. Jake made us sit in the middle of the room on the floor. I sat between Angela and Seifer. Adam sat opposite me with Jade facing Angela and Reaver facing Seifer. Jake, Zoë and Sam Apolit stood between us.

Sam decided to start the proceedings. "Right, we're going to sort this out calmly. Both sides are going to have to make concessions. Um…Whitrow, maybe you can outline our group's general feelings?" I didn't actually know Sam that well. He was the captain of the Quidditch team and referred to all other players by their surnames. He had a vicious temper but had managed to calm it down a bit over the last few years so he was a good choice for this sort of thing.

Jake shrugged. "Sure…well, as far as I can make out, everyone's angry at Zac."

"Great," I muttered, surprising a laugh from Seifer. Jake ignored me.

"He lied to everyone and betrayed their trust. However, many people don't feel that he deserves to be kicked out of Slytherin. Although he is only a Muggle-born, he earned his place in Slytherin a long time ago. But he does need a punishment" He paused. "Okay, Adam's side, what do you think should happen?"

Adam smiled viciously. "He may have earned it long ago, but I feel he's lost his place again. Time was, he wouldn't have cursed anyone with magic. Now he does it all the time." This was a slight exaggeration. I guessed that he was still annoyed about the time I froze him. "He's a Mudblood and he doesn't care for his plan. He should be kicked out." I considered cursing him but one look at Sam told me that this wouldn't be a good idea. Meanwhile, Zoë said that it was my turn to speak.

"Well, for one thing, I'm sorry I lied but it wasn't as if you'd have let me live this long if I said 'Hey, I'm Zac Carew and I'm a Muggle-born'. And I don't think that one thing merits me leaving Slytherin." I said slowly. "Besides, this whole thing was my idea. Can you say you would have thought of it Adam? You're dull as hell." Adam tried to curse me for this, resulting in Sam disarming him. The mediators talked for a minute and then Zoë turned back to us.

"Okay, no cursing so we're gonna hold your wands. And Zac, you're on thin ice here. Don't antagonize other people please. Same goes for Adam." She then proceeded to collect our wands. I felt a bit safer.

Jake stepped between the two groups. "Alright, I'll suggest concession one. Zac will remain in Slytherin."

"What?" Adam shouted.

"BUT," Jake continued, "He will have less power."

"Huh?" I shouted.

"Is this acceptable? Put your hand up if yes." Jake finished. I did nothing. Neither did Adam. But after a minute, Seifer slowly raised his hand. Jade followed. Angela and Reaver put their hands up after a few more seconds thought. I groaned and decided that some power was better than none. Grudgingly, I raised my hand. Adam did the same at the same time.

Jake then got everyone to voice opinions on the subject and after thirty long, painful minutes, with a lot of screaming, attempted punches and failed attempts to curse people without wands (and one successful attempt from Reaver who had actually learnt one wandless spell), we had a full agreement.

I would not leave Slytherin and would be deemed a proper Slytherin. To this end, there was to be no blood discrimination against me from anyone- if they tried, I could curse them.

However, I was not allowed to remain as leader. Adam would take over that role but he would not have absolute control as I did. He would have a group of five 'generals', one of whom had to be me. He could pick two, but two others would be picked by general consent from the Slytherins.

I would not be allowed to try and usurp Adam. If, at any point, the house demanded my return, I would have to have the five generals with Adam as one of them. As leader, Adam had to be focused only on getting Slytherin the same rights as other houses and NOT on purifying bloodstock in Hogwarts.

It wasn't perfect in my opinion but I supposed that it was fair. I agreed to the terms, as did Adam. Sam made us sign a contract so that neither of us could go back on the deal.

I was slightly annoyed at my demoted role, but this feeling disappeared when I looked at Adam while Jake announced the compromise to everyone.

He was smiling hungrily and fingering his wand. For the first time in a long time, I became truly scared.


	23. The Hidden Serpent

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter at all.

Geth342: Updates for the last two chapters will not be as quick as this and the last one were as i will be back in school. I am considering doing a sequal but this story may also work well on its own, so i'm going to leave it up to you. Just tell me after i write the last chapter if you want me to do one or want to know what the stroy would be. Anyway, i hope you enjoy and please read and review.

Chapter 23: The Hidden Serpent

The Slytherins accepted the compromise although, as always, there were some people who grumbled. I was absolutely shattered when I went to put my bag away in the dorm and considered just falling asleep instead of going to dinner. However, before I could decide on which option I wanted, Seifer walked into the room.

I looked up at him, but he didn't say anything. His face was blank as he stared at me. I had a feeling that he was angry but I wasn't sure what about. In the end, I decided to break the silence.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," I said gratefully. "I think you may have saved my life back there." He didn't say anything, but I noticed that his jaw was tight with anger. I carried on speaking in an attempt to placate him. "Seriously, I owe you one. If you want anything, anything at all, just name it and I'll do it. Or at least, I'll try." I looked up at him, willing him to speak while my heart pounded. Why was I so scared, I wondered. And then it hit me. This was how Seifer had looked on the night of the debate. Instinctively, I gripped my wand. I didn't want to be the next person in the Hospital Wing with a cut chest.

"So that was your secret?" Seifer asked in a low voice.

I nodded feebly. "Well…yeah. It's not really that special you know."

He shook his head, his face still tight with fury. "Not at all special. Just big enough to change the whole hierarchy of Slytherin." I winced. He had a point. But I still couldn't work out why he was angry.

"I guess…but like you said, family has nothing to do with a person. And Adam was searching for an excuse to get me anyway. He's hated me since the first day back I guess." I was saying 'I guess' a lot, showing how nervous I was. I decided to shut up- I was beginning to sound like a detective. Next I would be saying 'the butler did it' (at least, the butler did it in the Muggle detective book I had bought in London).

Thankfully, Seifer decided to speak again. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" He repeated; his voice was still low but now a flash of anger crept into it. I tried to look normal.

"Um…well…erm…you see…it's like I said. People here don't like Muggle-borns. I needed to survive somehow. It's not like you can talk anyway. You had a secret too." I managed to sound self-righteous by the end of this but one look at Seifer told me that this had been the wrong way to go.

"I told you what it was though." He replied. I didn't really have an answer to that, so he continued. "Why didn't you tell me at least? I'm your best friend."

Now I really didn't have an answer. Not a diplomatic one anyway. Glancing at my friend, I realised that keeping shtum would be a very bad idea so I decided to give my honest answer. "You're not going to like this but…I wasn't sure how well I could trust you. I mean, Tahir and Jake are best friends but I'd bet that one would betray the other with a secret like that in a heartbeat. I was scared."

"I never told anyone about Holly though."

"Oh yeah…well, this was a bit different." I amended. "Holly would be hard to kill. Me, all someone had to do was strangle me when I'm asleep."

"Sure." He said, voice hollow. "I get it." He started to walk away, but then called back over his shoulder, "if it had been me and you'd told me that you were the grandson of a pair of murderers, I would have told you my secret. But I guess we're just different." He walked out of the door.

"Seifer, wait." I called after him. I wasn't sure why I was calling him back but the hurt on his face was incredible. Like it or not, this boy had saved me. The least I could do was show him that I trusted him.

"What?"

"Do you want to know another secret?" I asked.

"You have more than one?" He asked sceptically.

"Yes, but that's not the point." I said. "Look, do you want to or not? But if I tell you, you have to swear not to tell anyone. I mean it." He nodded. I delved into my pocket and showed him the photo of me and Tammy.

He stared at it. "This is…this is that Hufflepuff, isn't it? Tammy Rowland?" I nodded. "How long have you been dating her?"

"In all honesty?" I asked. He nodded. "Since…um…Thursday. Or Wednesday. It depends on how you look at it."

He chuckled. "You're a bloody Hidden Serpent." Then a look of realisation spread over his face and before I could ask what he meant, he spoke again. "This is who 'T' is. Not Tina Spangler." I nodded. "How long have you liked her for then?" He asked curiously. I blushed and mumbled something about the time and being hungry, making him laugh. He seemed to have forgiven me and let me off the hook. The truth was that I still didn't know. Maybe it was at that dance. Whenever it was, the thought banished all thoughts of that weird term from my mind.

Just before we went to dinner, Seifer said that I hadn't had to show him that photo; he would have calmed down eventually. I replied that I had wanted to and then we headed to the Great Hall in amiable silence.

This day was getting weirder and weirder. I should not have been surprised when I went into the Hall and found that the Slytherins were more or less split, but I was. People, instead of sitting with their normal friends, were sitting with people from their group in the argument. Closest to the High Table was Adam's group. In the middle was Jake's group and my group was at the side closest to the doors. Some of Jake's group sat with other groups but mostly people sat with others of similar thoughts.

We sat down next to Angela, Florrie and Tahir, and opposite Tina Spangler and Nadia, the third-year look out. This was quite a strange experience for me as I usually sat with my own year but after a while I got used to it. Even if Tina and Nadia weren't the same age as me, they were still good company. In addition, the boys sitting next to Nadia would often chip in randomly. In fact, after dinner, we all went outside to the lake and talked for a while. By the time I went to sleep (I had told Tammy before I left that I wouldn't meet her that day) I was almost happy again.

It soon became clear that this would be the new friendship habits for the Slytherins; when I woke up, Tahir and Seifer were waiting for me but Adam and Jake had already gone. We spent the day with Angela, Florrie and a few fourth and sixth years that had been on my side. Occasionally, Jake would come and sit with us but he usually hung around with Zoë or Jade.

I took to wearing Muggle clothes, just to annoy Adam, and the others in my group followed my lead. Other houses stared but no one questioned it for long. It was just assumed to be the new 'fashion'.

The one bizarre thing that had come out of this was that my new friends all referred to me as 'Prince' or 'The Prince'. When I asked them about this, they said that they had found my declaration of being the 'Mudblood Prince' to be so amusing that they had decided that 'Prince' would be a good nickname for me (they had already guessed that I would not be impressed by 'Mudblood'). Of course, this meant that we got the strangest looks off other students who overheard our conversations but I didn't care. Seifer had been right. Telling my secret was strangely liberating.

That night, I met Tammy again and told her about the whole 'being discovered' thing, omitting the fact that Adam was now the leader of the plan. She asked whether that meant she had no more blackmail material on me, making me laugh. She told me that she still hadn't found a way to tell her friends about me to which I told her there was no rush.

Before we went back, she brought up the subject of Rhian Groves which instantly made me become very interested in a leaf on the floor. To my surprise, she told me that Rhian had said that I had found her unconscious and told her that people were worried and that Hufflepuff were grateful to me. I wasn't exactly sure that what Tammy had just described and my acting like a jerk were in the same field but I wasn't about to argue.

However, she then mentioned that Rhian couldn't remember how she got to be in the Dungeons. It took all of my self-control to stop myself from blushing as I mumbled something about finding her there and not knowing either. Tammy accepted this but I had a feeling that she didn't quite believe me. I couldn't bring myself to look her in the eye.

The next five days passed enjoyably. The generals were picked; Adam chose Reaver and Borallis, the house picked Jake and Sam Apolit. I ignored Adam and he ignored me. All the fifth-years enjoyed the end of our little holiday.

But all good things must come to an end. On Monday, our first day back to studying, I received a message halfway through the day that Adam wanted to see me at six o'clock to discuss the plan. Grudgingly, I supposed that I should go.

At six, I walked into our dorm, ready for the meeting. Adam smiled when he saw me.

"Here he is. Our Hidden Serpent." He called.

I was confused. Hidden Serpent? What was it with people suddenly calling me that? I decided not to ask about it. Instead, I asked what he wanted to discuss with me.

He laughed. "Oh, you're gonna love this Carew." He crowed. "See, we've discussed it with the house and everyone's in favour of it."

I sighed, irritated. "Nice. Now tell me what it is already." As I said this, I glanced at the other generals. I could not help but notice that Jake looked uncomfortable.

Adam smiled. "Sure. I think that things are moving too slowly...so we're going to get some older wizards in and show the school by force why we're unhappy. We're going to fight."

"Fight?" I repeated uncertainly.

"That's right." He laughed. "See, Jake's going to contact his brother and get some older wizards in. They're gonna teach us a few spells and then we're gonna attack the school."

"You do realise that they won't have a clue as to _why_ we're attacking them, right?" I asked, ignoring the uncomfortable fact that Tammy was the one who had pointed this out to me.

Adam looked confused for a moment and then realised what I meant. He grinned guiltily. "Oh right, I forgot to mention that someone's going to speak at the beginning to tell them that we're sick of the way we're being treated. If anyone retaliates, then the fight starts. After some time, someone will give a message saying that if they agree to some terms, we'll stop fighting."

"Oh." This wasn't the most articulate response ever but I couldn't think of anything else to say. On the surface, this seemed like an extreme but otherwise good plan. But I couldn't help feeling that something was wrong- Adam wasn't a deep thinker. Something would go wrong. I just didn't know what.

"But do you want to know the best part?" He asked. I shrugged. "You can't change it! Every general has agreed to it and so has most of the house. So, if you meet us in the common room at midnight tomorrow, we'll get some more plans made up. And DON'T tell anyone outside the house about this, apart from your little Ravenclaw. We'll need his help. Bye Carew." He waved at me patronisingly. I turned and left the room without another word, trembling with anger. Now I was sure that there was something wrong, especially as, before I left, I glanced at Jake. He looked as though he would rather be anywhere else than in that room.

It turned out that Adam had spoken to most of my friends in secret and forced them all to agree. The only ones he hadn't spoken to were Tina, Seifer, Florrie and Kali. Those four were the most likely to reject what he said, no matter what. Tahir, Angela and the others had been too ashamed to tell me what had happened. It seemed like Adam really did have a good hold on his power. I didn't have a plan to stop him and I didn't like that. I hated not being in control.

I considered defying Adam and telling Tammy about the fight but if they had managed to intimidate Tahir, I supposed that I would be in deep trouble if I did.

The meeting the next day was strange. Adam told Jake to get the wizards in by making themselves invisible, by the next week, and that the battle would take place a few days after that. The third-year lookout called Jack would be the message bearer and we would all be hidden until the fight started. Simon the Ravenclaw would try to encourage people to listen to us, and fight for us if he had to, although Adam would not allow him to learn any spells. I had bad dreams that night. This was getting a little bit too real for me.

For the rest of the week, I did my best to discourage the fight and to try to encourage Tammy to go out of the castle on the Saturday that it would take place on. Sadly, neither plot worked- the Slytherins were either too hyped up or too scared to side with me, and Tammy couldn't see any particular reason to go and sit by the edge of the Forbidden Forest or sneak into Hogsmeade on the 5th July.

The older wizards arrived on the Tuesday, at about nine in the evening. I was amazed that the plan of them just sneaking in under a disillusionment charm had actually worked. And they were going to sleep in the Room of Requirement, whilst others would be waiting outside the school. How lax was the security on this castle? Not for the first time, I realised that Trent really was a fool. Just because there hadn't been any terrorism for ten years or so didn't mean that it couldn't start now. For the first time, I half hoped that we would succeed if only to show everyone that we, at least, had brains.

These wizards were quite a scary group. Jake's brother, Martin, was alright- a joker, much like Jake, but most of his friends were just plain terrifying. The one who unnerved me the most was a tall, pale guy with greasy blond hair called Skoloro. I didn't know if that was his actual name, a surname or just a nickname and I didn't really want to find out. Whenever he spoke, he always advocated the violent option. He spat out rubbish about Muggle-borns. Adam became attached to him very quickly. I did my best to avoid him.

I was startled to discover that the 'quick-course' spells we were learning were mostly dark curses, practiced on spiders. By the end of the first day, I was an expert in forms of dark magic that the school would never teach. By this point, I was really starting to feel scared. When would I ever be in a situation where those curses were justifiable?

The next few days were also spent learning dark curses. No one mastered all of them but we did pick up quite a few. Thankfully, we always stopped at around eleven so I had time to see Tammy who, amazingly, still had not found a way to tell her friends about me. As I was trying to be a good boyfriend and I thought that, as all hell would break loose soon and she would hate me anyway, I tried to give her ways to tell them. My favourite was for her to say 'Guess what? I'm pregnant' and after they had all looked shocked, she would add that she wasn't but I was her boyfriend. She dismissed this for two reasons. The first was that she wasn't actually sure whether they would prefer me or her being pregnant at the age of sixteen. The second reason was that they would probably combine the two ideas and assume that I had gotten her pregnant and she 'wasn't going to give me the pleasure of having people think we'd gone all the way in just three weeks'. In all honesty, the second point hadn't actually occurred to me, but it made me laugh.

On Friday evening, I made one last desperate attempt to get her to stay out of the castle. I even tried to get all of her friends out too- that's how desperate I was- but she still wouldn't go. She thought I was joking. My next idea was to break up with her- the theory being that if she already hated me when the battle started then seeing me and the other Slytherins in the fight wouldn't hurt her- but I was too selfish to do it. I couldn't bear the idea of her hating me. Instead, I did something worse. Something which I meant but shouldn't have done.

I told her that I loved her.

It slipped out after I gave her a goodnight kiss. I had never told Jade that I loved her and we had dated for about eight months. The fact that I had said it to Tammy after three weeks was strange and Tammy blushed and didn't reply. As we parted though, I could have sworn that I heard her whisper 'I love you too'. I still don't know if she actually said that but the thought that she did cheered me up.

Saturday evening came far too quickly in my opinion. Everyone had been edgy that day and we had all snapped at other people but it was still better than what was to come.

Finally, at about five o'clock, just before dinner, Seifer and I took our places in the hall next to the Great Hall and waited for the signal. I was absolutely terrified and I let Seifer know.

"I can't help feeling that this is wrong." I muttered to him.

"And I can't help feeling that this is going to go wrong," he muttered in reply. We smiled shakily.

"Regretting being a Slytherin now?" I asked. "It's gotta be simpler to be a Hufflepuff."

"Depends. What if my girlfriend was a Slytherin and I didn't tell her what was going on?" He smiled thinly but the joke fell flat.

"Yes, well, I'd rather not be battered by the house. Besides, this might work." I tried to sound optimistic but it didn't really work. It was probably my chattering teeth.

Seifer shook his head. "You really are a Hidden Serpent, aren't you?" He said in amazement.

I was confused again. "Hidden Serpent?" I asked. "Okay, I give up. Why are people calling me that? What does it mean?" This wasn't just my curiosity. Talking helped me feel more normal.

He smiled. "You don't know? A Hidden Serpent is someone who…well, it's hard to describe. It's someone who's like a snake- sly, quick to move, that sort of thing- and it's someone who is a mystery in a mystery. Always keeps a part of himself to himself and constantly surprises everyone else. It's…well, there's more to it than that but that's basically what it is. No one ever realised how much of a Hidden Serpent you were until the day you became the Prince."

"Oh." I said, still confused. "So is that a good thing or not?"

He thought for a moment. "Dunno," he said at last, "I guess it could be good or bad. I don't suppose you can classify it." He fell silent, looked around, and then nudged me. "That girl over there is fit. Reckon you could snag her?"

I knew he was joking but I decided to be serious. "Tammy's the only girl for me," I said devoutly.

"Yeah. Pity she's gonna hate your guts in a few minutes." He laughed. I chose to ignore him –more or less because he was correct- and focused on listening for the announcement instead.

It came about five minutes later. Just as I was wondering whether the attack had been called off after all, I heard Jack's voice, amplified by _sonorous_.

"PEOPLE OF HOGWARTS!" He shouted, his voice a little squeaky, "YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" I heard people murmuring and then fall silent. I wished that I could see what was going on inside the hall.

"I BEAR A MESSAGE FROM SLYTHERIN HOUSE," he continued. Someone booed. "THE MESSAGE IS SIMPLY THIS. WE ARE SICK OF DISCRIMINATION. WE ARE SICK OF THE WAY WE ARE TREATED."

"What are you gonna do then?" Someone shouted. I heard laughter.

"IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO LISTEN TO US," he continued bravely, "THEN WE WILL BE FORCED TO MAKE YOU LISTEN TO US."

"You and what army?" Someone else called.

"WITHIN THIS CASTLE ARE A GROUP OF TWENTY WIZARDS WHO ARE TRAINED TO FIGHT. MORE WAIT OUTSIDE HOGWARTS. IN ADDITION, EVERY MEMBER OF SLYTHERIN HAS BEEN TRAINED TO ELIMINATE ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT WISH TO LISTEN. PLEASE, DO NOT MAKE US DO THIS. WE WISH TO NEGOTIATE."

"Guys, I think we should listen," I heard Simon shout, "I think they might be serious."

"You would think that, wouldn't you, you little squib!" Someone- it might have been Yoru- retorted. "I think the Slytherins have had enough concessions. Why not focus on other houses?" People cheered.

"WE WISH ONLY TO BRING EQUALITY TO THIS SCHOOL AND TO RIGHT THE WRONGS FORCED UPON US," Jack shouted over Yoru, "YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES TO TELL ME OF YOUR DECISION. IF ANY HARM IS DONE TO A SLYTHERIN DURING THIS TIME, WE WILL BE FORCED TO RETALIATE. PLEASE, MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION. YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES!" I wasn't sure why Jack repeated the time limit but I supposed it was nice to know.

"We don't need twenty minutes, do we guys?" A new voice called out. "I know what our answer is. STUPEFY!" I heard a thump as Jack fell and then a huge round of cheering. My heart sank. The school hadn't listened.

"I am afraid that we have no choice but to retaliate," I heard Borallis say as he walked into the hall. "Please remember: we gave you fair warning. SECTUMSEMPRA!" There was a scream and then cries of revenge from other students. More Slytherins poured into the hall and began to shout curses. Seifer turned and set fire to a passing girl's robes, who had been staring at us. I stunned a boy with spiky hair who was fumbling for his wand, and then moved on to the next student with Seifer covering my back.

The battle had begun!

* * *

Author's note: I am aware that the tactic for sneaking the wizards in seems highly unlikely. However, i couldn't think of a better way to get them in and i would also like to add that, although i may not have mentioned it, Trent is very similar to Fudge in that he feels if everything is going well now, it will always go well.


	24. Battle for my Sins

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Geth342: One chapter left. I don't know if anyone reads my previews but, due to the ending of this chapter and the fact that the next one is the last one, THERE WILL BE NO PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 25 IN MY PROFILE. You'll probably understand why when you read the ending. Anyway, i hope you all enjoy and if you have time, feel free to review. Thanks :)

Chapter 24: Battle for my Sins

There were only five students near where Seifer and I had been standing and our attack took them by surprise. While they fumbled for wands, I stunned them or used some of the dark magic I had been taught. I didn't aim to kill or maim. Seifer was more prone to setting people's robes on fire and then cursing them. His theory was that if their robes were burning, they would be too preoccupied to fight back. Our tactics were successful; despite the fact that there were only two of us, we had soon knocked the five students out. Then we ran into the Great Hall.

It was amazing how chaotic the hall had become in such a short time. Candlesticks were flying everywhere and the room was bathed in ever-changing colours as students fired more and more spells. People screamed spells and fell, still screaming but with pain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw more wizards run in and other Hogwarts students followed. In the corridor outside, even more students were fighting. It was total anarchy.

Seifer and I set to work with joining in with the Slytherins. I targeted Colin Abin, one of Grant's housemates. He spotted me and tried to stun me but I set up a shield charm. Seifer took advantage of this and made Abin start dancing, followed by a curse which covered his face in mushrooms, rendering him unable to speak. I quickly stunned him and we moved on to our next target, ignoring shouts of 'cowards' and 'couldn't face him one on one'. It might not have been honourable but it was much safer to take people on between us.

Once I got into the fight properly, I found that I was actually enjoying myself. Not in a 'yay, this is so much fun, I want to do it again' way, more in an 'adrenaline pumping around my body, giving me a rush' way. It was a bit like one of Matt's computer games- shoot bad guys, move out of way of spells, shoot more bad guys and progress through level. I had never really gotten the hang of them when I had tried them but there was no doubting the fact that they were fun and that this was similar. I felt like a proper soldier, fighting for righteousness, fighting against oppression. I could almost envision myself as the hero from that film I had seen with Matt and his friends.

I ignored the people who fell around me- I was far more concerned with keeping myself alive. I did get a few injuries from spells, including a spectacular cut to my side which ripped my robes and shirt but luckily only induced a flesh wound on my side. Reaver healed it quickly (he had been standing next to me) and I didn't feel any pain- I had too much adrenaline. However, the cool breeze on my side irritated me.

The teachers were trying to impose order without much success. If you listened carefully, you could hear Trent shouting 'people, please calm down' or Quake screaming 'if you don't stop this, right now, you'll all be sorry!' They tried to minimise the damage both sides did to each other but they had their work cut out because Martin, Skoloro and the others must have been really into the dark arts. The sight of a boy without his left ear- the result of an attack from Martin- was just sickening but he was one of many casualties in the war. And I didn't have time to think about these horrors. I had to fight for myself.

After a while, I spotted Reaver climb onto the High Table and mutter a spell. This was evidently the second message.

"PEOPLE OF HOGWARTS!" He shouted over the general noise of the battle. "WE DO NOT WANT THIS BATTLE TO CONTINUE. IF YOU AGREE TO OUR TERMS, OUR FIGHTERS WILL BACK OFF. IF NOT, THEN EVERY ONE OF YOU WILL BE DESTROYED. WE ONLY WANT WHAT IS RIGHT. WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?"

Kisser boy jumped onto another table. "No!" He screamed, as loudly as Reaver. "We won't be threatened by you! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm fighting. SLYTHERIN HAS BULLIED US FOR LONG ENOUGH!" A huge cheer resounded around the room from the majority of the students. Reaver shook his head.

"IF THAT IS YOUR ANSWER, THEN SO BE IT. SLYTHERINS, STEP UP THE ATTACK!" With this ominous command, Reaver turned and shrieked a jinx at Kisser. Instantly, he fell back, screaming as little cracks formed on his skin. I recognised the spell- it was a nasty one. I found myself hoping that one of the teachers got to him in time. No matter how much of a jerk Kisser was, he didn't deserve the fate that would befall him.

People went crazy then. All of us Slytherins began to use darker magic while other students fought back with a higher ferocity. The atmosphere had become far more dangerous.

The one odd thing was that, unlike in books and Muggle films, there wasn't time to talk to our adversaries. Occasionally, I would shout something like 'Surrender now or we'll get rid of you' or 'you're going down' or something promoting Slytherins. My opponent would occasionally reply with 'coward' or 'evil scum'. They would also shout out threats which I would ignore. But, more often than not, I usually fought in silence (apart from shouting spells obviously). I needed all my concentration to stay in the fight.

The fighting soon fell into a steady rhythm. I would cast shield charms, duck if the spell was too strong and then send a curse back. Then I would move onto my next victim while looking out for Seifer. It wasn't incredibly enjoyable but I soon became too tired to question the morals of this battle as I had been doing for a while.

That is, until a certain point in the battle.

I had been ducking and weaving. My right side was covered in blood and the little finger on my left hand was at a strange angle, but I ignored all this. Near me, Simon was fighting some Gryffindors in his year who were calling him a traitor. I felt a bit sorry for him- when this was all over, he would probably have no friends. Still, I supposed he could always come and live with the Slytherins. He had certainly earned it.

I shook my head and got back to the matter at hand- using a dark curse to cut a sixth-year's face. Then, as I did it, a very weak curse hit me in the back. I turned to see a first-year Hufflepuff with the tip of her nose missing.

I ducked under another curse and then shot a spell back, knocking the unfortunate first-year into a table. I smiled grimly and turned to my next opponent, ready to curse again. And then I stopped.

"Hurting little kids are we?" My opponent asked, ignoring the chaos.

I shook my head numbly. "I- I didn't want to. I don't want to." I shouted back. "But this is war. There will always be casualties." I ducked under another random curse and set fire to the caster. Then I turned my attention back to my opponent.

"You didn't change. You never have and you never will. I can't believe you'd go through with this. Why didn't you stop it?" She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I tried. I tried Tammy." I couldn't explain everything that had happened. "I couldn't...no one could. I'm sorry." I looked at her. "If you want to strike me down now, you can. I won't stop you. I won't hurt you. I can't." I was being serious. The look on her face was enough to stop me from hurting anyone. I didn't want to hurt her. In all honesty, I didn't feel like hurting anyone anymore.

I waited to be knocked back into oblivion. But it never happened. She had her wand pointed at me and her arm trembled but she didn't do anything. Suddenly, something caught my eye. Tina had her wand aimed at Tammy.

Without thinking, I held my wand out and screamed "_Stupefy_!" My friend, the friend who had stood up for me and forsaken her relationship with Borallis for me fell without a word. She never found out who cursed her.

Tammy looked at Tina with shock and then back at me. I looked back into her eyes. It felt like there was no battle, only us.

"Why did you do that?" She asked suspiciously.

"She was going to hurt you." I replied simply.

Tammy shook her head. "I- You saved me. That doesn't excuse anything. Go now, before I hurt you."

I nodded vigorously. "I understand. I'll leave you be. And I'm sorry. For everything." I couldn't say what I wanted clearly enough. There weren't any words to express myself and no time to explain it. She seemed to understand me though. I turned away, ready to fight, but my heart wasn't really in it.

And then I heard a sound more terrible than anything I have ever heard. A sound which haunts me even now.

Tammy was screaming with pain and terror.

I whirled around as soon as I heard her. I saw a triumphant Reaver standing next to the spot where Tammy had been standing and I watched numbly as he kicked something. I waited for her to get up and fight back, but nothing happened.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" I didn't know where that voice came from- all I saw was Reaver falling to the ground, shocked, as blood welled over his face and chest. Then I saw my trembling, outstretched hand and I knew what had happened. I ran over to Tammy. She was lying on the floor, her eyes closed, barely breathing, her face pale and lifeless.

"Tammy," I gasped, "it's Zac. I'm here." She remained motionless. "_Enervate_," I muttered desperately. Nothing happened. "Come on. _Enervate. Enervate. Enervate_, damn you." She did not move. The curse Reaver had used was probably too advanced for that simple spell. She needed medical help but she was unlikely to get any. She could die.

Suddenly, I knew what needed to happen. The battle needed to stop. If it didn't, Tammy might never breathe again. And she probably wasn't the only one. I stooped down and picked her up, now just dodging spells. All appetite for war had left me.

I walked through the battle-strewn hall, thinking of a way to stop the fight. I checked on Tammy every twenty seconds- as well as being unconscious and on death's door, she was bleeding sluggishly from a cut to her leg and head, and her robes were torn. Bleakly, I remembered us joking about me getting her pregnant. It seemed so long ago.

I placed her down carefully once we reached the side of the hall by the High Table (there seemed to be less fighting there). Then, I grabbed my wand and did the first thing I could think of; I set fire to the headmasters' chair. This got some people's attention. Next, I set colourful flames off into the air and over the heads of the combatants with loud noises, attracting even more attention. Finally, I set off a caterwauling charm, enhanced with _sonorous _in an attempt toat least deafen everyone, if not stop them.

By this point, most people had stopped fighting in order to find out where that horrible racket had come from. I quickly cast _Sonorus_ on myself and then ended the caterwauling charm; I was giving myself an earache.

"This fight must stop." I said, looking over the now captivated witches and wizards. To my left was a bloodstained Shelly, looking tired with her wand pointing at Tanya. Seifer looked up at me, confusion on his already-scarred face, wand absent-mindedly pointed at a red-faced Terry Veraw who looked like he might be missing a finger. Skoloro, who didn't appear to be injured, was glaring at me from the middle of the crowd. A few people to his right, Stickler had his wand held like a sword with Kisser covering his back. They both stared at me. Jake and Martin were standing on the right- both had ripped trousers and red hair instead of blond. Tahir had a broken nose and no expression on his face. Towards the front, Florrie and Philip Charles were lying, side by side with closed eyes. And these were but a few of the casualties of war.

"You started it," someone yelled. There were a few murmurs of agreement.

I ignored them and stood to one side, indicating Tammy. "This girl is seriously injured. She needs medical help. She can't be the only one. We can't continue." I spoke out into the silence.

To my relief, Mrs. Fry was nearby and she quickly ran over to Tammy, who now looked as though she had passed death's door and was in his entrance hall.

"Why do _you _want the fighting to stop, Death Eater? This is what Slytherin wanted." Another voice shouted.

"Why do you want it to carry on?" I retorted. "I'd be surprised if no one dies by the end of this. And Slytherin didn't want this. We wanted our rights."

"Yeah, right."

I shook my head and growled. "Look. Slytherin is at fault here partly. We started a fight without explaining our terms. It wasn't hard to think that our terms would be something dumb like domination. Any deaths today would be caused by us.

"But, it's not just us. No one stopped to question our terms. No one thought about what we meant by 'ending discrimination'. You agreed to the fight. Any deaths today would be caused by you."

"Like you can talk. You're not a saint." Another rude voice shouted. I nearly lost my patience with them.

"No, I'm not," I said calmly, "but I at least recognise what's wrong here. You go through Hogwarts treating us as criminals for something which people did _thirty-five_ years ago. You need to stop living in the past. And we need to help you do that." By this point, my appeal was to everyone. For the first time, I saw Tammy's point. Violence hadn't helped- at least, not without explanations.

"What a load of-"

"Crap?" I enquired. "I don't think so. The old headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, often talked about the houses working together. It's never happened- not since the four founders- but I don't see why it can't." I paused for a moment. "You said I'm not a saint. I'm not. Neither are any of you. But you know what? At least I'm trying to improve. If you want to do the right thing, stop fighting. If you want to do the right thing, work with the noble house of Slytherin and there will be no more violence." I said this all fairly simply. It was surprisingly elegant considering that it was spontaneous.

No one smiled. No one cheered. No one did anything- there was just an uneasy silence with nothing to fill it. My heart sank. My plan had not worked- they would fight, someone would die and nothing would change. And there was nothing I could do to change it.

Then Grant moved towards me with her mouth open, smiling, and her wand pointed downwards. I think she wanted to say something and I had a feeling that it was in favour of me. But before she could, another voice rang out.

"Carew, you lying, cheating Mudblood scumbag!" A pale man shouted. "You've been against us all along. I won't allow this. Not now! Not when we're so close!" Skoloro raised his wand. At the same moment that he screamed a curse at me, I performed a shield charm so strong that the curse, instead of hitting me bounced off it.

The silver jet was reflected from the shield and towards the left. I watched helplessly as the light struck Shelly Grant, knocking her back. She fell backwards silently, a look of surprise on her face as she hit her head hard on the cold, stone floor. I stared at her with growing horror, praying that she would get up, injured and angry but otherwise okay.

Sometimes, I don't think that the wizarding world has a religion. This was one of those times. No one had moved- they were too horrified by the scene unfolding in front of them, even though scenes like it had occurred throughout the battle. No one dared.

I ran over to the blond haired girl and checked her pulse. There was none. I put my hand on her stomach to check her breath. She had none. The back of her head was sticky with blood. Her eyes were wide open but she did not blink or speak. I tried to revive her but nothing happened. And, still, no one moved.

Slowly, I got up and looked at Skoloro who was smirking. All my anger, my anger at everyone and everything- at Adam for starting this fight, at Trent for being so useless, at every single student who was prejudiced- rose up into a single growl.

"You killed her."

He sniggered. He actually sniggered. He thought it was good. "One less blood traitor." He laughed. I expected an indignant shout but none came. Why was no one moving? Was it only me and this…this murderer left in the room?

"You killed her," I repeated. I pointed my wand at him and without thinking, I bellowed, "_Crucio!_"

He fell to the floor, writhing and screaming. Someone had told me once, that to do this curse, I needed to mean it. And I meant it. More than anything else in the world. I wanted this sadistic creep to feel the pain that was coursing through my body. I wanted him to know what it was like to suffer.

I don't know quite how long I stayed there. It felt like an eternity to me but I don't think that it was more than a minute.

"Zac," someone said, putting their hand on my shoulder gently, "Zac, stop it. Let the curse go."

"But he killed her." I replied dully.

"I know Zac. But if you keep this up, you'll kill him. Don't be a murderer. Let someone else punish him." The voice had a point so I lifted the curse albeit reluctantly. Skoloro lay on the floor, sobbing. I felt nothing except hatred. I glared at him and turned to see who had saved him.

Jon Stickler. Shelly's boyfriend.

I was surprised. Why didn't he want this scumbag to suffer if he loved Shelly? Was this his 'chivalry'?

He seemed to read my thoughts. "I'm as mad as you are Zac. But if you kill him or torture him, you'll be as bad as him," he said softly, "and Shelly wouldn't have wanted that. I think she respected you." I said nothing and kept my face impassive but inside, I felt like I was being torn up. I had never liked Shelly but I hadn't wanted her to die. I hadn't wanted anyone to die.

I looked down at Shelly again. They say that a dead person often looks like they're sleeping, but that wasn't the case with Shelly. Even if she had had her eyes closed, you wouldn't have thought that she was anything but dead. She had always been so alive and vibrant that this stillness just didn't suit her.

I bent down. My mother had once told me that a tradition in our family was to help the dead soul in some way and make a wish about their life. As I closed her eyes to stop her from seeing the horrors of the world she had departed, I said my wish. A wish that, if it had been true, her death would not have happened.

Tears streamed down my face as I whispered my wish.

"I wish I had never become a wizard."


	25. End of a Life

**Disclaimer**: For the last time, i don't own Harry Potter. I also don't own anything by Loius Sachar or Annie Dalton.

**Geth342**: Well, this is the last chapter. There is now a sequel to the story- Hide My Name With Fear. Feel free to check it out.

This chapter is dedicated to every single person who put me on alert, who added me to their favourites, who took the time to review my story (even if most people did seem to stop around chapter 22) and who even read this far. You are all awesome and i can't thank you enough :)

This chapter is also dedicated to my older brother who, when my mother said that i would one day be embarrased to put my writing up on a website, said that he was an adult who very much enjoyed what he had read of this story and gave me the confidence to finish this story.

For the last time, i hope you enjoy this chapter and please read and review :)

Chapter 25: End of a Life

_-'Millions of human children are dying of hunger because rich countries couldn't care if they live or die! And the powers that be say we mustn't interfere with their free will! Well, that sucks! If you want humans to change, angels are going to have to make waves!'- __**Making Waves by Annie Dalton.**_

_-The secret was to take small steps and just keep moving forward. If he tried to take too big a step, the current would knock him off his feet and carry him back downstream. - __**Small Steps by Louis Sachar**_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I know that I possess a lot of the qualities found in my house. I am clever. I can keep my head in a bad situation and see the right way out. I am brave but not to the point of stupidity. I care about those I love. I stand up for what I believe in, no matter what the cost, and I'm not afraid to let people know what I think.

In fact, the only quality that I do not have is one that many Slytherins do not have. It is a quality that is associated with my house but has never been stated as a part of it; I am not evil. I cannot hurt someone for no real reason and I cannot fight for something that I do not believe in. If I hurt someone, I will feel remorse at some point.

It is one year to the day since the Hogwarts student Michelle Victoria Grant was murdered by the wizard Daniel Skoloro in the 'Battle of the Snakes'. It is almost one year to the day since I became a magical outlaw and Daniel Skoloro was imprisoned in Azkaban for life.

After Shelly passed away, the battle sort of fell apart. Seeing an actual death had sobered everyone up and no one- not even Adam- felt like fighting anymore. Instead, the ministry was summoned and people started to try and revive other people.

To this day, it still surprises me that no one apart from Shelly was killed in that fight. Everyone was hurt and about a quarter of people had very serious injuries but no one apart from Shelly has died as a result of that battle. It's been viewed as nothing less than a miracle by the majority of the magical world.

After arresting Skoloro, the Aurors began to question people about the events of the battle and who was behind it all. This became a problem for me. Everyone mentioned that I had performed the Cruciatus curse on Skoloro although some added that I had been under stress at the time and had been trying to stop the battle. In addition, Adam decided to lay the blame at my feet as did all of his friends and a lot of other random students who knew that I was a trouble-maker, found out about the plan and assumed that the whole battle had been my idea. In fairness, I didn't exactly do myself any favours by deciding to honour Shelly by telling the exact truth (bar my relationship with Tammy).

It didn't take long for the Aurors to decide who had caused the battle- very few people had covered for me and most of them had been from my house (Simon Ackley and Rhian Groves were the only two non-Slytherins who covered for me. Jon Stickler didn't cover for me but he did point out that I was the only one who tried to stop the fight). In addition, I had performed an Unforgivable Curse, although leniency would be provided in that case. They arrested me.

There were only two weeks left of term so they decided to hold me in the Castle until it was time for my trial. I guess they didn't want people to hear about what a shambles Hogwarts was if a fifteen year old could pull off an entire battle. But their plan backfired. One afternoon, when most people were outside enjoying the weather and my guards had gotten bored and wandered off (which they were prone to doing. I think they thought that I was so remorseful, I would act like a good boy until my trial) I escaped.

Due to my solitary confinement, I had had a lot of time to plan an escape. I had been sitting in the dorm about five days after the battle when I decided to put my plan into action.

First, I went to Seifer's bed and took his broom, replacing it with some money and a note saying that I would try to pay the rest off and I was sorry. I packed my bag with a mix of Muggle and Wizard clothing as well as a few other items. One of the guards had told me where my wand was hidden (he felt sorry for me and always struck up a conversation with me. It wasn't very hard to get the information out of him) and I had snuck out and got it the night before. That was one of the riskiest parts of my plan- if I had been caught, the security around me would have tightened and I would have ended up in Azkaban. But luck was on my side and I soon had my wand with me. With it, I performed a glamour charm on myself (not a very good one) and a disillusionment charm (equally bad) and then ran up to the North Tower and to a window. I leapt onto the broom and flew away, despite the fact that I hated flying and the sky was a clear blue. No one realised that I was missing for another three hours.

I hid in the Muggle countryside in England for a week. I would go to the corner shop and steal food once a day but, otherwise, I stayed hidden from the population. When I did venture out, I wore a hooded jumper with the hood up over my face despite the hot weather- it was easier if no one saw my face. Then, I returned to the Wizarding world.

The first thing that I did was to get the Trace removed from me in a shady back-alley. I had to use the birthday money I had with me. It was expensive but worth it. Then, I returned to the Muggle world and found some short jobs I could do to earn enough money to get the tracing spell that had been put on my wand removed from it. After that, I was set.

I spend different amounts of time in the two worlds. I applied to an education programme in the Muggle World and studied for a Business Studies AS Level- my reading of my grandfather's book really helped- (I had and still have no idea as to what my OWL grades were. I can guess vaguely but that's as far as it goes. It's probably too difficult to find someone who doesn't want to be found with an owl because no one appears to have tried it) as well as a few GCSES. It was hard to do it all in one year and on limited time but I think I coped (apart from in maths. I had done an Arithmancy OWL but one paper required a calculator and things such as Sin and Cos. The best I could do with my calculator was to add two numbers together.) I also do part time jobs such as handing out leaflets or cleaning windows and I'm hopefully going to study Business Studies to A level and maybe a few more subjects to AS. A little bit of magic when no one is looking never hurts either.

I also spend time in the Wizarding world doing more shady jobs and learning a few new spells from Theodore Nott, the man who had suffered because of the original war. He lives in a dangerous alley in Manchester in very poor conditions and the first time I went to see him, I was very wary. Now, however, the local criminals are fairly used to me and sometimes offer me jobs. Considering that I'm on the run from the law, the legality of my work never really bothers me. With him, I became more accomplished at glamour and disillusionment charms as well as learning some practical spells. In return, I pay him or do odd jobs for him.

I visit my family at least once a fortnight but I have no pattern as to when I show up. I feel guilty for putting my parents through the fact that their only son is a criminal but it can't be helped. There was no way that I was going to Azkaban. Every time I visit, I talk for a bit about anything but magic and play with Holly; then I leave. Holly's grown bigger now. She hasn't started speaking but I'm sure she will soon. She still plays with my doll.

My parents have taken on a policy of hiding my existence from their friends and telling Matt that I'm at camps or on courses in the holidays. I'm not sure whether this is out of shame or a desire to protect me. They have also decided not to tell Holly about me exactly- she will meet me but my life won't be discussed with her and, unless she's also magic, the wizarding world will never be mentioned to her.

In the meantime, I've changed my appearance a little bit. I've grown a bit taller (I didn't actually do that on purpose), I've become a bit stronger from all the grunt work I do, my hair is longer than it ever was and I've pierced one ear. It's not a dramatic change but it's enough of one I think. In any case, I usually perform a glamour charm or just wear a hooded garment if I'm out in public.

I'm not scared of heights any more. When I want to go to some places, I use Seifer's broom and I've done it so often that it just doesn't scare me, although I am still a bit wary. I prefer catching the train.

I often think about my time at Hogwarts and the death of Shelly Grant. At the time, I blamed Adam for starting the fight but my exile has given me more time to consider facts.

Tammy was right. I should never have started the whole plan by making waves. In some cases, that's the only option but in my case, it wasn't. Despite what I said at the end of the battle, I was the one who started the plan. I advocated violence. It might not have been my decision, but it was me who caused the battle and me who killed Shelly.

Violence doesn't solve problems. It causes them. There are some times when it's right to fight, but I guess I should have made it clearer. Many of the students of Hogwarts said that they weren't actually aware that we hated the way we were treated and if we had just asked, they would probably have eased up. I don't believe most of them but maybe they had a point. None of them knew why we were so violent. If we had explained it to begin with, they would have understood.

Amazingly, a lot of Slytherins weren't punished. Every older wizard who took part was- some were imprisoned, others given community service and two had their wands snapped- and some Slytherins were given an incredible amount of detentions or expelled but most got off with very little punishment. Maybe it would have looked bad in the press if an entire house were punished. The only thing that irritates me is that Adam escaped punishment. Sometimes, life just isn't fair.

I've only seen my friends once since the events of last year. When they were going to their families for Christmas, I went to the platform and found them all. I wore a hooded cloak and people weren't paying much attention to me anyway. Tahir, Florrie, Jake and Kali all looked away when I revealed my face to them, and told me that I should go. Seifer told me that all the Slytherins were on thin ice and that if I wanted to remain safe, I should stay away. He told me not to worry about the broom and wished me luck. I did the same for him and then he wandered back to his adopted family, leaving me alone and friendless.

The fact that I haven't been caught after that shows that my friends did want to give me a second chance at life. Their turning away was a way of saving themselves and me. See no evil, do no evil.

The one thing that I can't change is my guilt. Every time that I've ever tried to justify Shelly to myself, I always remember the day that she betrayed me to her house and my oath that I would make her pay for it. It hadn't been an empty threat but it hadn't been entirely serious. My idea of 'making her pay for it' had been just making her really upset. Sometimes, I ask myself whether I actually made her regret betraying me or whether it was the other way round.

The other thing that hurts me about her was the fact that although I heartily disliked her, I guess I really did have a grudging respect for her. She was smart and fair. She could have acted like she hated me and she could have betrayed my family secret at any time she wanted, but she didn't because she knew how much Tammy liked me. I like to think that she was being honourable as well but I guess I'll never know now.

As well as feeling guilty about Shelly, I also feel terrible about Tammy. She put her trust in me ever since we were eleven and I saved her and Shelly from Jon Stickler and Darren Trott…and it ended her up in hospital. She lies in a coma and has done ever since Ryan Reaver attacked her. He was expelled for it but that didn't really matter much because he had already done his NEWTs. I have no doubt that if I hadn't stayed talking to her in the battle, she would have come out better. When I first heard that she was in a coma, I thought that, with magic, she would be out in no time. But there are some things which magic can't change. I learnt that the hard way.

I think it might be a curse to know me. I get away with things and survive; in that respect, I'm lucky. But the people around me get hurt. In that respect, I'm not so lucky.

I try to visit Tammy once a week. For obvious reasons, I have to sneak in- they're not going to let a hooded stranger/ complete stranger/ known criminal into St. Mungo's- and the first time I tried it, I nearly got myself caught. I showed up in a hoodie and heard her family talking with the doctor about her condition. The one thing which got me was the venom with which her father spoke about me- evidently, he blamed me for this (he may have had a point) - and what he thought should happen to me (a lot worse than Azkaban). In a way, it reminded me of myself.

Now, however, I'm used to it. I always sneak in towards the night under a disillusionment charm and wait for anyone inside the room to leave. She's in a room by herself so it's not that hard to avoid random people visiting other patients.

It always spooks me when I see her. She's still beautiful but there's lifelessness to her. The only movement that she makes is breathing. Her hair is limp, her arms just lie on the covers and her eyes remain closed. Her mouth is slightly open but that's it. That's a description for her on any day. The only thing that changes is the cleanliness of her hair as they only clean it every few days, I think.

When I visit her, I talk about random things. I tell her about my day and my life. I regale her with random stories from school and from my primary school. I remind her of all the good times we had and I tell her of some of the bad times we had. I told her once that Shelly had been killed but I've never mentioned it since. It's too painful. Even then she didn't respond.

I do all this because I've heard that talking to people in a coma helps; they have acute hearing or something. Also, because it helps me to have someone to talk to; there is no one else who I can tell all my troubles to. And I still love her. I've often wondered whether I meant what I said, that night before the battle, and every time I've visited Tammy, I've decided that I did.

Every time I leave, I do the same thing. I tell her I'm leaving and then I kiss her on the lips and whisper that I love her. The first time I did it, the coolness of her lips frightened me but now I'm used to it. I want to prove that I'll stick with her even if she is in a coma and I'm not the wizarding world's favourite person.

I've heard the healers saying that they are not sure if Tammy will ever improve and that her family are taking it hard. They think that she was injured too harshly and that, considering the magic that is performed on her every day, it's a bad sign that she never responds to anything. Some healers suspect that she will die soon.

I don't want to believe this. I want her to live. And I think that I will get my wish.

Last night, when I kissed her, I saw her finger move.

_FIN_


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